When Southern Belles and Stalkers Collide
by ChloeMcIntyre1986
Summary: An old friend of Stephanie's comes to New Jersey to start over after her divorce. But what is the new girl's connection to Lester? And does Stephanie have her own secret? How will this alter things with Ranger? Finally updated! Warning: MAJOR TWISTS!
1. Southern Belle Gets Fresh Start

**Okay so here's a new story. I promised I have not abandoned Parental Control: Plum Style. I will finish it. Also thanks again to Jaime for being my beta. Your feedback is very helpful. You rock my socks girl!! As usual, I do not own these characters except for my original character Chloe. She's mine, you can't have her.**

**Chapter One- Southern Belle gets fresh start**

It was a cold day in mid October in Trenton, New Jersey. Trenton's very own Bombshell Bounty Hunter, Stephanie Plum, was sitting in the bonds' office contemplating her latest issue that no one but she knew about. Lula, the bonds' office file clerk, was engrossed in her newest celebrity gossip magazine. Connie, the bonds' office secretary, was doing some online shopping. For once not one of them was talking. The office was blissfully silent, but that silence was suddenly broken. A woman burst into the office looking distressed, but determined. Connie, ever the office bulldog, looked up sharply and said in a tone that suggested all business, "May I help you?"

Realizing that someone else must have entered the office, Lula and Stephanie looked up at the woman as she said with a slight southern lilt, "I need a job."

Steph looked at the woman and realized that she knew her, "Chloe?" she asked still a little unsure.

The woman looked sharply at Steph as she was addressed by her name, but then her look softened as she realized that she knew the person addressing her, "Oh my gosh, Stephanie Plum!! How are you?" the woman all but squealed.

Lula and Connie looked confused as to why these two women knew each other especially when the woman was clearly not from around here with that southern accent. Stephanie addressed their confusion by saying, "Chloe moved to Jersey in the ninth grade. We went to high school together, but then she left to go back to her home state to go to college. Mary Lou and I missed her so much."

"Aw, I missed you guys too, but now I'm back."

"Why are you back? The last I heard you were married," Steph said genuinely curious.

"Well, I'm now divorced. Let's just say my husband got sick of feeling like he was second fiddle to my first love."

Stephanie smiled at her, and then pulled her old friend into a comforting hug. Steph knew that Chloe still harbored feelings for her college sweetheart who left one day at the end of Chloe's freshman year to go into the Army. Chloe had never heard from him again, but she had never truly gotten over him. Steph broke the silence saying, "You want to try at bounty hunting? If I remember correctly, you were always good with a gun plus you took all those self-defense classes."

Chloe giggled, "I blame my Daddy for that. He always had to take me hunting since he never had a son. As for the self-defense stuff, Mama always thought a Southern Belle should know how to defend herself. I could definitely use a refresher in both areas though."

Connie smiled at the girl saying, "Where did you go to school?"

Chloe smiled, "I went to University of South Carolina. After all, I was born and raised there, although I did adore my time in Jersey."

Stephanie laughed, "Chloe was very popular back in high school. All those Jersey boys just couldn't resist that accent and that sweet Southern charm."

"I never could bring myself to date a Jersey boy. They just don't have the right amount of manners. My Southern boys spoiled me, I guess, for other men."

Lula looked at her and said, "So we know you can use a shotgun, but how are you with a handgun?"

Chloe smiled, "My Daddy bought me my first handgun when I was thirteen. It was a Glock 9mm, and I still have it to this day. I try to go to the range regularly as well as the gym, but unfortunately since the last year has been hell trying to get my divorce finalized, those things got pushed to the back burner. However, as my divorce cleared last week, I packed up my stuff, and decided to head back to Jersey. I've heard about Steph's adventures as a bounty hunter, and I wanted to give it a shot."

Steph sighed, "You mean people outside of Jersey know about the Bombshell Bounty Hunter?"

"Afraid so, darling. Apparently the reporter who first gave you the nickname decided you deserved a blog about your adventures. I stumbled across it one day and checked it daily to keep up with your adventures."

"Oh, that little weasel!! I'm going to wring his neck."

"Breathe, Steph. It's actually very positive. I think you're this guy's hero or something. It's actually kind of creepy in a sweet way. He seems to think very highly of you."

"You'd never know it from the way he writes about me in the papers here."

"I bet that's his editor more than him. Editors seem to think being negative sells more papers."

Connie broke into the conversation then, "Well, you obviously have the right knowledge so you know what? You are hired!"

Lula broke in saying, "But what about Vinnie? Shouldn't he approve this?"

Connie looked at Lula like she had two heads, "Vinnie is an incompetent moron. The last person he hired was Joyce. We do not trust his judgment. We are hiring this girl because we need help from someone who actually somewhat knows what they are doing."

Stephanie agreed as did Lula because they all knew Joyce was completely useless as a bounty hunter. All she cared about was fucking with Stephanie. Connie walked Chloe over to her desk and handed her the paper work she needed to fill out in order to become a bounty hunter. Chloe walked over to the ugly brown leather sofa and sat quietly filling out the necessary forms. Lula settled back on the opposite end of the sofa and went back to reading her gossip magazines. Connie sat back at her desk and finished up her online shopping. Stephanie flopped in the middle of the sofa and continued contemplating her most recent issue. How was she going to tell Ranger? They'd only been seeing each other for about six months, and this was happening way too fast. He was going to flip, she knew he was. After all, he did not do stupid stuff like this, he'd said it himself. Of course, he'd also said his life didn't lend itself to relationships, and he had willingly tried that out. Maybe this could be a good thing. Connie interrupted her thoughts, "Steph, call Ranger. We need someone to train Chloe. Hopefully he can spare one of the Merry Men."

Stephanie looked up startled out of her thoughts by the mention of Ranger, "Why do I have to call him?"

Lula looked at her like she had two heads, "Uh, cause he's your boyfriend. Duh. What's with you today?"

"Ugh, fine. I'll call him."

She grabbed her cell phone from her purse, and hit speed dial one. He picked up on the second ring as had become his custom when she called.

"Yo."

"Yo, yourself."

"What do you need Babe?"

"Well, we've hired a new bounty hunter. She's an old friend of mine, but she has slightly more knowledge when it comes to guns and self-defense. However, she does need a refresher so we were hoping you had a Merry Man to spare to get her trained."

"Not willing to share your own Professor Higgins?"

With her best 'Burg eye roll, she said, "You know I don't share you, Carlos. You're mine."

"Playing with fire, Babe."

"Save it for later, Batman. Anyway, bring Tank and Lester when you get here."

"And why do I need to bring both Tank and Lester? I thought she only required one trainer?"

"Duh, why do you think? Lula wants to see her man too, and Lester gets the honor of training Chloe."

"Okay, it'll be a bit. We've got to finish up a meeting."

"That's fine."

He then hung up on her. She sighed and turned to the girls, "Just once would it kill him to say good-bye? I am his girlfriend!"

Lula laughed, "That's Batman for you. He coming by?"

"Yeah, he said it be a bit. They need to finish up a meeting. He's bringing Tank and Lester with him. I figured you deserved to see your boyfriend too. Lester's going to train Chloe."

Chloe looked over at them at the mention of a man named Lester. Surely, it wasn't her Lester? It couldn't be, what would he be doing in Jersey? Just to be sure, she asked, "Who are these men?"

Stephanie smiled, "Well, the man I was talking to was Ricardo Carlos Manoso who goes by the street name Ranger. He owns the security company, Rangeman. He's also a badass bounty hunter and my boyfriend. Tank is his right hand man, and Lula's boyfriend. Lester Santos is one of the men who works for him. He'll be the one training you."

Chloe kept her face carefully blank at the mention of Lester. _Her Lester_. She could handle this, she was a grown woman after all. She was not going to let the presence of the man who walked out on her at eighteen mess up her fresh start. "They are going to be here soon?"

"It's going to be a bit. They have to finish up whatever meeting they were in, and it could take some time."

"Okay," Chloe said breathing deeply to compose herself.

Thirty-five of the longest minutes ever, over which time Chloe composed herself, passed before a big black Hummer pulled up in front of the bonds' office. The man she assumed was Tank, as he looked like a tank, jumped out of the driver's side. The man she assumed was Ranger hopped out of the passenger side. Then she saw him-Lester. Her Lester. The man of her dreams. If it was possible, he looked even better than he had at eighteen. The years had been good to him. He was six feet of pure, perfect Mexican muscle. His hair was longer than she remembered, and as she caught a glance at his face, she saw those perfect, beautiful green eyes. They had never failed to make her weak in the knees, and they managed to do it now, and he was not even looking directly at her. The three men reached the door, and Ranger entered first. He walked over to Stephanie and pulled her into a kiss. Tank walked over to Lula and did the same thing to her. Luckily Lester was too busy laughing at this to notice her yet.

Finally Ranger broke away from Steph saying, "Introduce us to the new girl."

Steph smiled and said, "Ranger, Tank, Lester, this is one of my old friends from high school, Chloe McDuffie."

Chloe smiled politely glad that Lester had yet to realize who she was. She turned first to Ranger holding out her hand for him to shake as she said, "Nice to meet you."

He replied in kind, and she turned to Tank offering the same gesture as he also greeted her pleasantly. She then turned to Lester who, as their eyes met, finally realized who he was looking at. He seemed almost in a daze as he offered her his hand to shake. She grabbed on to it, and before he could react had managed to flip him on his back. She smirked down at him saying, "Hello, Lester."

Recovering from his shock, he used the hand that was still holding hers, and pulled her on top of him bringing his arms around her so she could not escape him, and then smirked saying, "Hello, Mac," before he pulled her farther down to him, and planting a huge kiss on her.

TBC…

**Sorry for the cliffhanger. More coming soon, I promise. Now please go review.**


	2. A Southern Belle vs a Jersey Player

Once again, I do not own these characters except for Chloe, Jaime, Pam, and Jennifer, and you can't have them. I also do not own the Danielle Peck song 'Bad for Me', the University of S. Carolina, Bates House or Trenton Central High. Thanks again to Jaime for being an awesome editor and an awesome writer. Also, thanks to my anonymous reviewers, and thanks again to my signed reviewers. I think I replied to all of you, but if I didn't I'm sorry, it was not intentional.

Here's the next chapter…enjoy!

**Chapter Two-A Southern Belle vs. a Jersey Player-Round One**

Chloe felt herself sinking into his embrace and the kiss, after all this was Lester. _Her Lester_. The man of her dreams, how was she supposed to resist him? He walked out on you without saying goodbye her mind screamed at her. That thought brought her to her senses as she shoved herself off of him and managed to get to her feet as she muttered, "No, no, no…"

Once Lester realized she was gone from his arms, he stood up himself, and reached out to her saying, "Mac? What's wrong?"

At the sound of his voice asking what was wrong she looked at him with suppressed rage saying, "You want to know what's wrong? You are what's wrong!! You walked out on me, and now you just expect me to fall back into your arms like nothing's changed!! No, it doesn't work like that."

He watched as she headed towards the door, "What are you doing?"

She turned slightly and smirked coldly at him, "What am I doing, Lester? You should know what I'm doing; you are the expert at it. For once in my life, I'm walking out on YOU!" With that she ran out of the office with tears streaming down her face. She reached her car, got in, and drove off.

Lester walked towards the door obviously intent on going after her when Stephanie grabbed onto his arm, and turned him towards her, "Freeze, Santos."

Lester looked at her saying, "What the fuck, Bombshell? I have to go after her."

Stephanie gave him her best 'Burg death glare, "No way in hell are you going after her. I have known her longer, and since Mary Lou and I were the ones that had to put her back together the summer after you broke her heart, we ARE going after her. Not you. Once she's calm, I'll try to convince her to let you be her trainer, but if she disagrees, Bobby gets the job. No arguments or I'll stun your ass."

Lester looked so defeated as he said, "Fine, Bombshell."

"Thank you," she said then turned to address Ranger, "I'm going after her, and it may take some time to get her calm, but when I'm done, we need to talk. I'll call when I'm heading back to the apartment, okay?"

He looked like he wanted to ask what was bugging her, but stopped himself as he said, "Take your time, Babe."

"Thanks. Connie, Lula," she addressed them as they looked at her, "I'll see you guys later."

"Bye," they said in unison.

She smiled at them then gave Ranger a light kiss on the lips before nodding at Tank, and giving Lester one final 'Burg death glare. He shuddered, and she smirked at him before heading off to pick up Mary Lou. And just where were they going? To the Trenton Central High football field to comfort their hurting friend.

Chloe continued to run with tears streaming down her face until she reached the drivers' side door of her 2008 Infiniti G37 Journey Coupe in Athens Blue. It had been a 'happy divorce' gift from her Daddy who never needed an excuse to spoil her. He had seen how she had fallen in love with that type of car when she'd first seen the one the judge handling the divorce drove. When she got home after her final day in court, it had been sitting in her driveway with a big pink bow on it. She had known immediately who had bought it for her and promptly called to thank him. Seeing the beautiful new car had made her realize she wanted to start over. She packed up her clothes and the few possessions she wanted to keep, put them in the car, drove to her parents to say bye, and then drove straight to Jersey never looking back. Smiling through her tears at the car, she slipped into it, cranked over the engine, hooked her I-Pod up, and listened to the soothing voice of Danielle Peck as she drove off on auto-pilot. She knew exactly where she was going.

_**I like chocolate but my hips sure don't**_

_**I like drinking red wine but tomorrow my head sure won't**_

_**There are just some things**_

_**That I love that are bad for me**_

Chloe sighed as she listened to the soothing words. Suddenly she began to remember the day she first met Lester.

_Flashback_

_Chloe walked across the threshold to the main foyer of Bates House in awe of its beauty. Her parents had gone to park and unload the car while she checked in and found her room. She walked towards where the Resident Life people had their table set-up for check in. She was so lost in her thoughts as she walked towards the table that she was not paying attention to where she walked. She came to a halt as she walked into a wall. Wait, it didn't feel right to be a wall, and she forced herself to step back and look up so she could see what she had run into. As she looked she realized she run into a person-a very well muscled person if the tight T-shirt was any indication. She let her eyes travel farther up as the person was quite a bit taller than her. Suddenly, her hazel eyes locked on to a pair of the most startlingly beautiful green eyes she had ever seen in her life. The second their eyes met, she felt a shiver of warmth spread through her body. He smiled at her, and suddenly she felt a surge as her hormones warmed her in very intimate places. Before either her or the boy standing in front of her could speak, he was pulled away by his friends. Sighing, she went back to getting checked in, but she spent the rest of that first day trying to find him. Unfortunately, her first day hunt was fruitless and as she lay in bed that first night, she wondered if she'd ever see him again._

_**I like shopping but my purse sure don't**_

_**I like wearing high heels but tomorrow my feet sure won't**_

_**These are just some things**_

_**That I love that are bad for me**_

_She didn't see the green-eyed stranger until the next week when herself, her roommate, Jaime, and their suitemates, Pam and Jennifer, were taking advantage of the hot day to sunbathe in the grass that was in the middle of the Horseshoe. They were wearing bikinis and lying on towels trying to work on their tans before September ended, and October's fall temperatures took over. About one hundred yards away, a group of the freshmen boys from their dorm were playing a game of tackle football. They had been mostly ignoring the game as the boys were keeping it away from them, and they were getting to know each other better. Suddenly out of nowhere, the football came flying in a graceful arc straight towards Chloe. She sat up as she realized where the ball was headed and managed to catch it before it hit her. One of the boys came jogging over to get it, and she stood up and began to walk to give it to the boy. When he got close enough, she realized it was her green-eyed stranger. He looked at her and she could tell he remembered her as he said, "So, we meet again, pretty girl. Do I get a name this time?"_

_She stammered out, "Chloe McDuffie."_

"_Pretty name for a pretty girl. Lester Santos," he said holding his hand out for her to shake._

_She took it, and he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it saying, "I need to get back to the game, beautiful, but I live on the fourth floor of your dorm in Suite 405-B if you want to stop by some time."_

_She smiled tentatively as his smile was making her feel like she was thirteen again with her first crush and said hesitantly, "Okay."_

"_Promise me you will stop by. You are by far the prettiest girl on campus, and I would love to see you again."_

_She blushed again, and he winked at her before walking back towards his game. She went to sit back with her friends. The second she sat down, they began to interrogate her, and as she answered their questions, she smiled. Later that day, she would realize that she never stopped smiling that whole day._

_**But of all the things I shouldn't do**_

_**Number one is loving you**_

_**There's a fatal charm in your faithless arms**_

_**Why is everything that feels so dang good bad for me?**_

_**I like fast cars but the law sure don't**_

_**I like partying late but tomorrow my boss sure won't**_

_**These are just some things**_

_**That I love that are bad for me**_

_**But of all the things I shouldn't do**_

_**Number one is loving you**_

_**There's a fatal charm in your faithless arms**_

_**Why is everything that feels so dang good bad for me?**_

_**Oh, I like danger but common sense sure don't**_

_**Tonight I'll like your sweet lies but tomorrow my heart sure won't**_

_**These are just some things**_

_**That I love that are bad for me**_

_**But of all the things I shouldn't do**_

_**Number one is loving you**_

_**There's a fatal charm in your faithless arms**_

_**Why is everything that feels so dang good bad for me?**_

_**Oh, you're one of those things**_

_**I love, but you're bad for me**_

_**So bad for me **_

Chloe sighed to herself as she listened to the end of the song, right at this moment the song aptly summed up how she felt. She loved Lester now just as much as she had back then, but he was bad for her, so bad for her. No matter what, she promised herself, she was NOT going to fall back into his arms. He had betrayed her trust and had done nothing to earn having it back. She smiled as she realized that she really was on auto-pilot as she arrived at football field without even knowing it. She got out of her car making sure to grab her I-Pod and her dock for it before heading out to the fifty-yard line. She set up her dock and the I-Pod, put it on shuffle mode, sank down into the grass, and waited for Steph and Mary Lou to show up. They would she knew because this is where she had always come when she was troubled, and they not yet failed to come to her here to help her sort out her head. She smiled at the thought, and briefly shut her eyes to rest her brain as the music settled over her calming her raw nerves.

Not fifteen minutes later, she felt her foot being nudged which startled her out of her half-asleep state. Looking up, she smiled at the sight of Stephanie and Mary Lou above her. Stephanie was carrying a grocery bag, and she knew it bore ice cream. They always brought her some when they came, and even though years had passed since she had last been here, the ritual had not been forgotten. Smiling even bigger she said, "Hand over the ice cream before someone gets hurt."

Stephanie smiled slightly at her before saying, "Here, and you owe me BIG time."

Chloe dug into the cookies'n'cream ice cream before saying, "How do you figure that?"

"Do you know how hard it is to keep one of Ranger's guys from doing exactly what they want?"

"I take it that he wanted to come after me?"

"More than anything. I had to yell at him to get him to stay put."

"Thank you. I need to process him being here before I can even think about dealing with him."

Mary Lou broke in then saying, "I cannot believe that the guy you fell in love with who then broke your heart is working for Stephanie's boyfriend. God, fate just loves messing with us."

Chloe grumbled, "It's been messing with me my whole life. Why stop now?"

They smiled at her before sitting down besides her. For the next two hours, they listened to her. They let her scream, curse, throw things, rant, rave, and when she was done with all that, they held her as she cried. Finally feeling better than she had since seeing him again, she said, "Thanks you guys for being here."

They both smiled at her as Stephanie said, "Are you okay with him training you? If not, I'll make Ranger give you someone else."

"I'm fine with having Lester, now. I just needed to vent. Lester and I will keep things strictly professional. I can handle that."

Not looking entirely convinced, Steph and Mary Lou just nodded as they headed to their cars. Chloe gave them one final hug as she said, "I'm going to go see him so he understands this has to stay professional."

"Okay, I'm going to drop Mare back at home then I'm going to Ranger's apartment since I need to talk to him."

"What's wrong?" Chloe and Mary Lou said at once.

"Nothing. I will tell you guys everything as soon I tell Ranger."

They nodded accepting this as they got in one final group hug. Then Mary Lou and Steph got in the Turbo and Chloe got in her car. Both cars drove off with the drivers' both gearing themselves up for their next confrontation and the lone passenger thanking God she was not either one of her friends.

TBC…Next up, Steph finally reveals to Ranger her big secret, how will he take it? Chloe confronts Lester about keeping things professional, but can the college sweethearts really pretend to be indifferent to each other? Until the next installment, review, review, review.


	3. Stalkers, Sweethearts, and Secrets, Oh M

Here's the newest chapter. I don't own any of the characters you recognize, but I do own Jaime and Chloe, and you can't have them. I also don't own the G37 Journey, the Toyota Tundra, Smirnoff Ice, or Coors Light. Anyway, enjoy and review!!

Extra special thanks to Jaime (ShesGotHighHopes) for being an awesome editor. You rock my socks.

Also thanks to my loyal reviewers. You are loved and appreciated!

**Chapter Three- Stalkers, Sweethearts, and Secrets, Oh My!**

Stephanie dropped Mary Lou back at her house, and then drove back to the Rangeman office on Haywood. As she drove, she found herself trying to figure out how to tell Ranger she was pregnant without having him freak out and ship her off to some third world country. Realistically, she knew he wouldn't do that to her especially since she was carrying an innocent child, _their child_, but she was still terrified of what he would do. She got to the entrance of the garage, and proceeded to beep the gate so it would open. She drove into the garage, parked the Turbo in one of Ranger's private spaces, got out, and made a beeline for the elevator. She decided to prolong the talk a little bit longer, and stopped in the control room to check on Tank and the boys. She smiled at them when she got out of the elevator until she noticed Lester standing there looking like he was lost in thought. She walked right up to him. He looked terrified that she was going to hurt him, but put on his best brave face as he said, "Hey, Bomber."

She glared at him and had to fight her smile as he shrank back from her, "What the hell are you doing here, Lester?"

"Bomber, I work here."

"Not right now you don't, right now you need to be at your apartment. I gave Chloe the address so she could talk to you."

"Oh," he said as he stood still for another minute.

"What the hell are you waiting for? GO!!"

Nodding, he ran towards the elevator. Stephanie watched his progress on the monitors, and when she was satisfied that he was in fact leaving, she turned to Tank, "Where is he?"

"In his office, Bomber, waiting on you."

Nodding her head at Tank, she walked towards Ranger's office and poked her head in the door to address him, "Are you almost done? We need to have our talk, and I rather do it in the privacy of the apartment."

He gave her his 200-watt smile as he said, "I'll be done in about ten minutes. Why don't you head on up to the apartment, and call Ella to bring us dinner? I'll be up as soon as I'm done."

"That's fine with me. I'm starving," and also eating for two she thought silently to herself as she started to leave his office.

Before she had the door all the way closed, Ranger addressed her again saying, "Are you sure you're okay, Babe?"

She turned her head enough to look him the eye as she said, "I promise that I'm fine, Carlos. In fact, I've never been happier."

He gave her a small smile as he said, "Okay, Babe, I believe you."

Fifteen minutes later found Ranger walking into the living room to find Stephanie parked on the couch with dinner sitting on the coffee table ready to be devoured. Ranger could smell steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, and fresh dinner rolls. It was a perfectly delicious meal, but also perfectly healthy. The best of both worlds for Stephanie and Ranger. Ranger grinned at Steph greeting her with the quip, "Long time no see, Babe."

Rolling her eyes, she grinned right back at him saying, "Cute. Now come eat before it gets cold."

He gave her a wolf grin as he walked to sit besides her on the couch. He pulled her to his arms kissing her soundly on the lips. When he pulled back from her enough to speak, he said softly, "Hey."

She smiled and said equally softly, "Hey, now let me go so I can eat. I'm extremely hungry, and if you don't release me so I can eat, I may have to hurt you."

Ranger's lips twitched like he was thinking about smiling, but he resisted the urge as he released her so she could eat. She dug into her food with abandon, and Ranger fought a smile again as she moaned showing her appreciation for Ella's cooking. Once they had both finished eating he said to her, "Okay, so what's on your mind, Babe?"

"I have something to show you. I left it in the bedroom; hold on while I go get it."

She ran to the bedroom to grab her positive pregnancy test so she could show it to him, and she needed to delay the talk just a little bit longer. She walked to his underwear drawer where she'd stashed it because she knew he'd never look in there. As she grabbed it, she could not help the smile that came across her face unbidden. She knew that no matter what happened, she was keeping their baby. She'd only known about the baby for just under twenty-four hours, and she was completely and truly in love with their baby. Fortified with this knowledge, she walked back into the living room. She was standing in front of Ranger who was still seated on the couch. He smiled the 200 watt smile at her while pulling her into his lap. When she was nestled in his arms, he finally spoke, "Okay, spill the big secret."

Instead of speaking, she placed the positive pregnancy test into his hands. He stared at for a moment, and she could tell it took him a few seconds to process what he was holding in his hands. He trained his dark chocolate eyes on her, and she repressed her frustration when she saw his blank face. He whispered, "You're pregnant?"

She couldn't help the smile that lit her face, "Yeah, I am."

He seemed to still be processing as he said, "You and me are going to have a kid?"

She smiled even bigger at him as she said, "Yep. The world has turned upside down because Batman and Wonder Woman are finally going to have a kid."

In that instant, his face changed from a blank, emotionless mask to one of sheer, uncontrollable happiness. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, and he carefully held on to her as he stood up with her in his arms, and in a fit of playfulness, he couldn't help but spin them around. Ranger felt his heart warm as he listened to her squeal and giggle as she delighted in the knowledge of impending motherhood. He finally set her down, and she smiled at him as she said, "I do have one request of you though, Carlos."

"Okay, Babe. I'm all ears."

"Don't propose to me, yet. I know that your amazing sense of honor would have us married tomorrow because you see it as the right thing to do. You did it for Rachel when she gave you Julie, but I don't want you to do that for me."

"Babe…"

She cut him off before he could continue his thought, "I'm not saying that I don't want to marry you ever, but I love you too much to simply marry because we are having a child. I want you to wait to ask me until some day in the future when I least expect it. I want it to be a surprise, and I want to know that you agonized over preparing the perfect proposal, and I want to know that you were worried that I wouldn't say yes. When you propose to me, I want to know that it is because you cannot imagine another day without me and NOT because you think you have to."

He looked at her for a second as if he was figuring out his thoughts. Finally as if he reached a conclusion he said, "Okay, Babe, I will wait to ask you, but just so you know, our marriage will be nothing like my marriage to Rachel. Mostly because I love you more than anything, and I know that we will spend our lives together."

Stephanie had to fight a swoon at his words of love and affection. He never ceased to amaze her with his ability to make her love him even more with every day they spent together. She finally said, "Thank you for respecting my wishes, Carlos. I knew there was a reason I fell in love with you."

He gave her a wolf grin, but then surprised her further by dropping to his knees in front of her so he could talk to her stomach. She felt her heart swell and her eyes water as he said, "Hi, baby. I'm your daddy. I never thought I'd love anyone as much as I love your mommy, but kid, you and mommy are in a tie for number one in my heart."

Stephanie finally felt her tears start to fall, and as she looked at him, she wanted nothing more than to make love to this beautiful man who gave her the ultimate gift—a child, tangible, beautiful proof of their love.

Two hours later, after they were well satisfied and lying in each others' arms, Carlos' arms wrapped securely around her tummy to protect not only her, but the child growing within her, Steph remembered something that had slipped her mind since coming up to the apartment.

"Carlos?"

"Yeah, Babe?"

"You should maybe call Bobby and tell him to go check on Lester."

"Explain, Babe."

"Well, before I came to your office, I sent Lester to his apartment."

"Why?"

"Because once Chloe calmed down, that's where I told her to go so they could establish the rules of their professional partnership. She wanted to set boundaries."

"That's all good, Babe, but why does Bobby need to go over there?"

"Lester is notorious for his foot in mouth disease, and if he did say something, Chloe may have shot him in a fit of anger."

Carlos laughed and then turned serious, "Do you think they'll be able to maintain professional boundaries?"

"Knowing both of them the way I do, I am going to go with hell no. Oh, Chloe will do everything in her power to try, mostly because she doesn't trust him to not break her heart again, but it will inevitably happen."

"Why are you so sure?"

Stephanie smiled sweetly at him, "Because they both love each other too much for it not to happen. They're similar to us, but with just a lot more history. If you recall, you used to not want a relationship or kids, but I got you to commit to both. Once Chloe rebuilds the lost trust with Lester, it's going to be on in a big way."

He smiled to show he understood, and reached over her to push the intercom. After relaying his request to Bobby, he rolled them over and commenced with round two.

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Once he received the orders from Stephanie, Lester had immediately gone to the parking garage, and got behind the wheel of his 2007 Toyota Tundra Double Cab with a long bed in Nautical Blue Metallic. He drove the fifteen minutes it took to get from Haywood to his townhouse. He pulled into his regular parking space when he arrived, and saw that Chloe was already there. Her G37 Journey was parked in his extra spot, and she was obviously working up her nerve because she was still sitting in it with her head resting on her steering wheel. He hopped out of the truck cab, and walked to her car window tapping gently on it to get her attention. When she focused her big, hazel eyes on him, he gestured her to roll down the window. Once she did, he couldn't help but smile at her as he said, "Hey, pretty girl."

Chloe regarded him warily because 'pretty girl' had become his private nickname for her. 'Mac' was her public nickname, but when they were alone 'pretty girl' was what he called her. Most of the time when he used it, it was because he was hell bent on seducing her, and it nearly always worked. It was not going to this time. "Lester, please don't call me that. We both know it has a far too intimate meaning, and I cannot deal with it right now. Please stick to calling me 'Mac'."

He nodded at her saying, "Okay, Mac."

She gave him a small smile, "Can we do this inside? I don't want to do this in front of your neighbors, and I desperately need some liquid courage."

He just nodded as he led her inside. She could not help glancing around in curiosity at the room they entered that was evidently the living room. It was decorated a step up from sparse, but had a masculine, modern feel what with the mixture of different blues and a slight smattering of red. The aura was definitely bachelor pad, but with the air of a man who could afford nice things and took advantage of that. Lester gestured to the deep blue suede couch indicating that she should sit, and as she did, she could not help but wish that he hadn't walked out on her all those years ago. If he hadn't, maybe she'd be living here with him, and they would be married with a kid or two. He continued to walk towards what was obviously the kitchen asking as he did so, "What's your poison?"

She asked, "Do you have any Smirnoff Ice? I know it's a girly drink, but I really want one."

"Yeah, actually. I keep a stash for when Bomber and Lula come over. They seem to prefer it to regular beer."

Chloe couldn't contain a giggle, "You mean Steph actually drinks it? In high school, she rejected it. Said it wasn't cool to drink the girly shit. Said guys respected you more if you could drink the way they did."

"Sounds like Bombshell. She and Lula decided it was too fattening to drink regular beer so as a compromise me, Tank, Bobby, and Ranger keep a supply at each of our apartments for them."

"Well then bring on my Smirnoff!"

He came back in with her drink, and she noted that he had a Coors Light Longneck in his hand. The one time he had ever met her father, the two men had discovered they had a mutual liking for the beer, and she was quietly pleased to see he still drank it. He sat next to her, but made sure they weren't touching. She admitted to herself that made her a little sad. Back before he left when they were dating, he had made sure he was always touching her even if it was in a small way. She knew he was being this way because he knew she was still wary of him, and she had to respect the fact that he was trying to make her comfortable. He broke into her thoughts then saying, "So what's the deal, Mac?"

She took a deep breath to calm herself then said, "If I talk, you have to let me get the whole story out before you talk."

He nodded at her to show he agreed to her conditions.

She took another deep, fortifying breath and began her story, "After you left, instead of going home to Myrtle Beach to spend time with Mama and Daddy and the rest of my crazy family, Jaime and I went to New Jersey. I needed to be with the three people who knew the story of us the best so that they could help me heal. Jaime, Mary Lou, Steph and I went to spend the summer in Mary Lou's family's beach house in Point Pleasant. For the first two weeks, all I did was cry. Finally when the girls convinced me that you weren't worth my tears," which you were she thought silently, "they dragged me out to party. They took me to clubs, beach parties, and basically anywhere people our age were going to be. Two months in, I met this guy at a club. At first, I ignored his advances. The pain of losing you was still too fresh of a wound for me to even contemplate anything having to do with guys. Finally, a week before me and Jaime were going to leave to go back to school, the guy convinced me to go on a date with him. I did, and it was the most fun I had with a guy since you. Anyway, once I left we kept in touch, but it wasn't serious. How could it be when we were so far away? We stayed in touch and visited each other frequently the rest of my time in school. Then graduation rolled around, and by this time I was head over heals in love with him. He told me he wouldn't be able to make graduation, and I was devastated. Once the ceremony was over, I came out of the stadium to meet my family, and there he was. I was so happy to see him that I forgot about my family, and ran straight into his arms. Once I pulled away enough, he dropped to one knee and proposed. I screamed yes, and we spent the night celebrating with my family and then alone. A year after that, we got married. We lived in Columbia, and he worked at a law firm trying to work hard to become partner. Things were good for a few years then about two years ago, he got into drugs. I'm still not sure who got him into drugs. Anyway, he developed a major coke habit. After one year of putting up with it, I couldn't take it anymore and filed for divorce. It took a year to get everything finalized especially when the loser was in and out of rehab. Friday is when the divorce became official, and I headed straight here for a fresh start. Hence, the bounty hunting thing. I want you to train me, Lester, but things have to stay professional. You broke my heart once, and I can't let you do it again."

He looked at her appraisingly as he sipped his beer, "That was a lot to take in, and I'm glad you told me. I'm also glad to train you. We can start tomorrow. As for the keeping things professional, are you sure that's what you want? It's fine if it is, but that kiss today displayed one simple fact—you still want me, and I know I still want you."

Chloe took yet another deep breath, and took a long drink of her Smirnoff before saying, "Wanting you is not the problem. Hell, loving you isn't even the problem."

He stared at her intently with his green eyes and said, "Then what is the problem, Mac?"

"The problem is that I don't trust you …," she trailed off.

"Finish your thought."

"I don't trust you enough to give you my heart again. Last time, you broke it."

Lester looked at Chloe, and in that moment, he understood just how bad the ramifications had been when he left her. Sure he had his reasons, but that didn't make it okay. Lester had not realized until that moment just how much he had hurt her, and how much he still loved her. He vowed to himself then and there that he would do everything he could to get her trust, her friendship, and maybe, just maybe something more back. He looked dead serious as he said, "Chloe, I know I hurt you, but I'm going to do everything I can to prove that I won't walk away again, that I can't walk away again. As much as it pains me to admit it, I still love you, more than you could ever know."

"Actions speak louder than words, Les."

Once she said that, he leaned in to kiss her. Before he could, she put her hand up to stop him. "Not that kind of action, dipshit. I meant action like training me well, providing back up if need be, and just being a good friend."

He studied her again with those intense eyes and said, "Okay, I will keep my hands to myself… for now. I can promise you one thing though, once you start to trust me again, I will pursue you. I lost you once because of my own stupidity, and I'm not letting it happen again. One day you will be mine."

Chloe felt the heat wash over her body as he said this. The intensity of his words was making it hard to resist him, but she fought it…for now. "Let me clarify one thing, Lester. You can pursue me all you want once I trust you as a friend again, but you will not win. Trust me on that."

Lester and Chloe locked eyes, neither willing to back down from the challenge. Both were well aware of the stakes, and neither one was going to give in to the other ones' demands without a fight.

An hour later, the staring contest long over when Chloe's stomach growled, and they were eating in companionable silence, Lester broke it saying, "Where are you staying? You are welcome to stay here if you want. I have an extra room, and I promise to be a perfect gentleman."

Chloe snorted at this as she said, "Lester, you are a lot of things. A gentleman is not one of them. I'm staying in Steph's old apartment; she offered it to me now that she lives with Ranger."

"Mac, you cannot be serious. That apartment gets broken into way too much."

"As a heart attack. I will not stay here with you, and besides Steph's apartment is only broken into when someone's after her, and no one is. I will be perfectly safe there."

Before either could finish, Bobby walked in. Since he and Lester were best friends, he had his own key. Lester looked up and said, "What's up? Did a job come up?"

Bobby shook his head, "Nope. Ranger, on Steph's orders no doubt, ordered me to come and make sure Chloe hadn't shot you."

"Why would she have shot me?"

"Because you say stupid things, duh," Chloe replied, "Women hate it when men say stupid things. On that note, I am gone. Good night, fellas."

She walked out to her car, but paused when she noticed a note on the windshield. A sudden feeling of dread and foreboding came over her as she knew this note contained nothing good. She pulled it off, unfolded it, and read it. It bore the following message:

Hello, my darling Chloe.

It makes me sad to see you've found my replacement already.

Do you really think he can protect you from me?

I will be coming for you when the time is right, you can count on that, my darling.

When I do, we will go to heaven.

Until then my sweet angel, I bid you adieu.

Love from your adoring husband.

Chloe stared at the note in open shock. How had he found her? Her Mama and Daddy were the only ones who knew she was coming to New Jersey, and they would have taken the secret to their grave. Before she could stop herself, she yelled, "LESTER!!"

He came running out with Bobby. He looked at her saying, "What's wrong?"

She handed him the note and watched as he scanned it. Bobby looked at her saying, "Who is it from?"

She felt her knees start to give out and as she fell she said, "My ex-husband, Rob."

Before she fell all the way, Lester caught her smoothly in his arms, and carried her into the house. She mumbled in her weakened state, "Protect me, Lester."

Even though he knew she could not hear him in her weak state he replied, "Always, pretty girl."

TBC…

Another cliffhanger cause I'm evil. More is coming so in the meantime—go review.


	4. The Art of The Threat

**Okay, so once again, I do not own anything that you recognize. I do own Chloe and Jaime, and you cannot have them. They are mine, and I don't share well with others which may have to do with being number four in a family of five. Anyway, I'm rambling. Thanks to Jaime for being an awesome editor and putting up with my insanity. You rock my socks, Babe. Also thanks to my loyal reviewers for putting up with my sporadic posting. Kate, please stop sharpening your ax, please!! I'd like to live to get married and have kids. LOL. Okay, so here is the next chapter.**

**ENJOY!!**

**Chapter Four- The Art of the Threat**

Slowly, the fog in her brain began to clear as Chloe started to regain consciousness. Her first coherent thought as her mind awakened was warm. Chloe felt warm, and she could not figure out why. Her eyes began to open all the way, and as they did, she saw that she was looking straight into a pair of warm, green eyes that were laced with concern for her. She felt startled at first, but then she realized she was looking into Lester's eyes. The room began to come back into focus, and she realized she was back in Lester's townhouse on his couch in his arms. Finally she voiced what she what was thinking, "What the hell is going on?"

Lester looked at her and said calmly, "You went to leave when you found the note from Rob, and you screamed for me. Bobby and I came out, and you fainted, but I caught you. Then I brought you back in here."

Chloe sighed. She had been really hoping that was all a dream. Stephanie was awesome at the denial thing, but she had nothing on Chloe. Southern girls may have been good at the damsel in the distress thing, but that didn't mean that they didn't fight it the whole way. Deciding to ignore all things associated with her ex-husband for the moment, she said, "Who's Bobby?"

Lester gave her a look that said he knew what she was doing, but he answered her anyway, "Bobby was the guy who came in at the end of our talk. You started to leave before I could introduce the two of you."

"Oh, okay. Where did he go?"

"He took the note to the police station so they could start a file on your ex-husband. He was going to wait until you woke up so you could go with him to make your statement, but I told him it could wait until the morning."

"Thanks, Lester. I'm not sure I'm up to it right now. On that note, I really am going to go. It's late, and I really, really need sleep."

"Where are you staying again?"

"Stephanie offered me her apartment to use until I find one. Since she moved in with Ranger, she says she has no use for it."

"I forbid you to live there."

At his statement, Chloe gave him her angriest glare. People thought Stephanie's death glare was terrifying; it had NOTHING on Chloe's. "Excuse me? You want to repeat that? It sounded like you just forbade me to do something. Last time I checked, you had no claim on anything that I do."

"I did forbid you, but I only said it because I'm worried about your safety. Everybody and their brother breaks into that hell hole, and Rob could get to you there. At least here, there's a security system to alert us to an intruder being here. There you'd be unprepared if something happened."

Chloe sighed, but she knew Lester was right. "So you want me to stay here?"

"Please. At least then, I'll get sleep knowing that you are safe. You can stay in the guest room, and I promise to be a total gentleman."

Chloe snorted at this, "You have never been a gentleman a day in your life."

Lester smirked at her, and suddenly it hit Chloe that she was still in his arms, and that he had predatory glint in his eyes. She started to back slowly away from him, but he followed her every move until suddenly Chloe's back hit the arm of the couch. As Lester's arms were still tight around her, she had no escape, and he was so close to her, too close. Lester leaned into to her until his lips were right at her ear, and his voice took on a seductive tone as he whispered in her ear, "Pretty girl…"

Chloe shivered at his tone, and suddenly all her rules for why this had to stay professional flew out the window as Lester began to kiss her. Her mind became blissfully blank as he kissed her, but then she felt Lester's hand at the edge her T-shirt. He was slowly edging it up, and Chloe knew his intention was to get it off her. The simple action was enough bring her back to reality. She pushed away from Lester, and she managed to get off the couch saying as she did, "I'm sorry, Lester, I can't. I'm not ready."

She then proceeded to walk into the guest bedroom. The last thing she saw before she left Lester's presence was his expression which was a mixture of hurt, confusion, regret, and was that love? Chloe decided to do the denial thing for now, and entered her room. She flopped on the bed to think when she realized she really needed a girlfriend to talk to. Stephanie and Mary Lou were good options, but she knew they'd be relaxing with Ranger or Lenny, and she really didn't want to disturb them right then. Suddenly, the light went on in her head, and she knew exactly who to call. She grabbed her cell phone from where it was sitting on the nightstand. Looking around the room, Chloe saw that her suitcases that previously been in her car were now in the room. Lester must have gotten Bobby to bring them in while she was still unconscious. Sneaky smug bastard! It was like he knew he could get her to agree to stay. Deciding not to focus on the fact that he had succeeded, she proceeded to dial the phone and put it to her ear listening to it ring.

"Hello?"

"Jaime!"

"Chloe?"

"Yep, it's me. How are you girl?"

"I'm fine, but how are you? Your parents told me you took off for New Jersey to start over. What the hell's going on? As your best friend slash lawyer, I deserve full disclosure!"

Chloe sighed, but then she proceeded to spill her guts. Jaime had a way of making Chloe want to tell her everything. Chloe guessed that it had to do with them having been friends for such a long period of time. She finally finished sharing the latest encounter with Lester and waited for Jaime to speak. After two full minutes of just listening to Jaime breathe, Chloe decided to speak again.

"Jaime?"

"I'm processing all this new information. Hold on a second."

"Okay."

After another minute, Jaime said, "Okay, let me make sure I understand all this. You moved to New Jersey, became a bounty hunter, Stephanie had her boyfriend get one of his men to train you, the man who came to train turned out to be Lester, you and Lester have had a heart to heart, you've kissed twice, Rob found you and is stalking you, and now you are moved into Lester's second bedroom. Did I miss anything?"

"Nope, those are the major highlights."

"I'm flying out there tomorrow. In fact, I'm walking to my computer now to book my flight."

"What? No! Jaime, I'm fine. You can't just put a halt on your life just because my life is going crazy! What about your clients?"

"My clients will just have to deal. Besides, I am the boss, and I have many qualified underlings who can handle things while I'm gone. You, as my best friend, are my number one priority. Plus this new situation with Rob is going to eventually require legal action, and as your lawyer, I should be there to help protect your interests."

"Ugh, fine. I know I can't change you're mind once you've made it anyway."

"Damn skippy."

Chloe laughed as she said, "Call me tomorrow, and let me know when I need to pick you up from the airport. I'm going to bed."

"Night."

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Three hours later, Chloe was tossing and turning. She glanced at the clock and saw it was now 1:45 A.M. Chloe sighed, and she decided to accept that sleep was not going to come easily. When she couldn't sleep which had been rare lately, there was usually only one type of solution. Getting out of bed, she padded down the hall to Lester's room. She pushed open the door and walked over to his bed. Before she could lose her nerve, she addressed his sleeping form, "Lester."

He stirred slightly, but didn't wake-up. She tried again slightly louder this time, "Lester!"

Thankfully this time, he heard her. His eyes popped open slightly as he looked at her. He looked confused and said, his voice still husky with sleep, "Mac? What's going on? Am I dreaming?"

"I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd come in here to see if I'd sleep better. No, you aren't dreaming."

He seemed a little more awake as he replied, "Come get in bed then. I promise to be a perfect gentleman, and I know I'm not dreaming because if I was you would have been naked when you came in here."

She glared at him, "Jerk."

He smirked at her before he pulled the covers back and patted the bed inviting her to get in. She did, but said as she did, "You stay on your side, and I'll stay on mind. This is in no way a concession to your thoughts on us. I am doing this simply because I cannot sleep, and I always sleep better when there is someone else there."

He just smirked at her saying, "I'll behave myself if you do."

She glared at him before they both succumbed to sleep.

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Chloe felt weird when she woke-up the following morning. There was an unexpected heat warming the front of her body, and there were two arms wrapped around her that she had been sure had not been there when she had fallen asleep. She slowly cracked her eyes open. It took her a second to realize that she was looking into a pair of just awakened green eyes. "Why the hell am I on top of you, Lester? I am one hundred percent sure that this was not how I fell asleep."

"Maybe your subconscious is trying to tell you something."

"Ugh, whatever. That had better be your gun poking me, Lester."

"Sure, Mac, that's my gun," Lester said with a wink, "Want to help me unload it?"

Ugh! Mental head slap! "No, I don't, and don't wink at me," Chloe said as she managed to roll off of Lester, "I'm going to get ready for the day. We have a fun filled day of skip tracing ahead of us."

Lester watched her go sighing to himself as she did. Chloe was going to be the death of him, and she'd only been back in his life for one day. Before he could get too lost in thought, a phone start ringing from his nightstand, and it wasn't his. He realized that Chloe must have brought her phone in the room last night, and he walked to answer it. "Hello?"

"Santos, why the fuck are you answering Chloe's phone?"

It took him a second to realize that the voice belonged to Jaime. "Jaime?"

"Yes, it's me. Now answer the damn question."

"She's in the shower, and her phone started to ring. I answered in case it was important."

"Ugh, whatever, I'll save my lecture for when I see you later today."

"Huh? What?"

He heard her sigh on the other end of the phone, "Men! She called me last night and told me what was going on. I'm flying out to check on her. As her lawyer and best friend, it's my right. Tell her I'll be arriving today at 3:30."

"Um…okay," Lester was still feeling slightly out of sorts and having trouble forming sentences.

"Thank you, and Lester?"

"Yeah?"

"Break her heart again, and I will cut your balls off and feed them to you."

Before he could reply, Jaime had hung-up on him. He was still standing there shell-shocked five minutes later when Chloe came back from her shower. She was wearing a robe and her hair was still wet, but she forgot all of that when she saw Lester standing there looking freaked out.

"What's wrong?"

He turned toward her, and it was testament to how freaked he was that he didn't comment on how she was attired. "I answered your phone when it rang."

Fighting to keep her cool, mostly because she wanted to know why he answered her phone and why he was so freaked, she said calmly, "Why?"

"I thought it might be the police calling you with an update or something equally important. It wasn't the cops.

"Well then, who was it?"

"Jaime."

"Okay, so what did she want?"

"She said that she arrives today at 3:30."

"Then why are you looking so freaked out?"

"I looked freaked out because she threatened my manhood!"

"Told you that if you break my heart again she'd cut your balls off and feed them to you?"

"Yeah."

"I love my best friend."

With that, Chloe disappeared into the guest room to finished getting dressed and ready for the day. By nine, they were out the door for a day of skip tracing and training.

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Around two-thirty that afternoon, Lester and Chloe had managed to collar five skips. All were male and had fallen for Chloe's southern accent and damsel in distress act. According to one skip as he was being cuffed by Lester, Chloe looked too sweet to be a bounty hunter. After the last skip, they drove back to the bonds office in the Rangeman SVU they had been using all day. They pulled up to the office at two-forty five which gave them just enough time to get their check before they had to get to the airport to pick up Jaime. They walked in to be greeted by Connie and Bobby who was there turning in Rangeman's body receipts. Chloe said hello to Connie before turning to Bobby and saying, "Hi, we weren't properly introduced the other night. I'm Chloe McDuffie, and you are?"

"Nice to meet you, Chloe. I'm Bobby Brown."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm feeling the urge to mock you for the name, but I'll be nice and restrain myself."

Lester broke in saying, "Why are you dropping off the body receipts? Usually, Ranger or Tank does it."

Bobby sighed, "Tank's off with Lula somewhere probably having a nooner, and Ranger and Bomber are offline until further notice. Something about Bomber having some great news that they had to celebrate."

"She's pregnant!"

"What?" Connie, Lester, and Bobby said at once all looking shocked.

"Yesterday, before I left her and Mary Lou, she had something that she wouldn't tell me or Mare until she told Ranger. Trust me, she's pregnant."

The three of them just nodded at Chloe still a little shell shocked at her statement. "Come on, Lester. We need to go pick up Jaime at the airport."

Lester still looked freaked out only this time it was because Jaime terrified him. Bobby noticed this too and said to Chloe, "Why is he so scared looking?"

"Jaime is my best friend, and since Lester broke my heart back in college, she is not his number one fan. Hey, you want to come with us? Maybe if there is a cute guy there, it'll distract her so she doesn't kill him."

"Sounds like there is good story there, but I'll grill you later about it. I'm game."

"Thanks, Chloe."

"For what, Lester?"

"Bringing Bobby along to protect me."

"Bobby isn't for your protection! He's coming to protect Jaime so she doesn't kill you and end up in jail."

With that said, Chloe left the office with Lester and Bobby trailing behind her. Before they knew it, they were approaching Jaime's gate at the airport. Jaime's plane had just started to disembark when Chloe spotted her. Chloe ran towards her, and the two hugged jumping up and down squealing excitedly. The first thing Jaime said as they pulled out of the hug was, "Who is that fine hunk of a man standing next to Lester?"

Chloe giggled, "That is Bobby Brown, a friend of Lester's and I'm pretty sure he is single."

"Well, I won't hold him being friends with Lester against him. Now please introduce me to him."

Chloe and Jaime walked back over to where Bobby and Lester were standing waiting for them. Chloe started the introductions, "Jaime, you know Lester, but this is Bobby Brown. Bobby, this is my best friend, Jaime Reynolds."

Bobby took Jaime's hand as if to shake it, but he then lifted it to his lips and kissed it saying, "What a pleasure it is to meet such a pretty lady."

Jaime proceeded to blush and then giggled nervously. Chloe almost had to laugh. This was a first, Jaime nervous around a guy. That never happened, but Chloe smiled at the thought. Time to play matchmaker. What fun that would be!

**TBC…**

**So there is chapter four. More coming soon. Until then, review, review, review. I am becoming a major review slut so review makes me update faster.**


	5. Fighting at Shorty's

**Okay, so here's the new chapter. I again do not own the characters you recognize. I do own Chloe and Jaime, and you cannot have them. They are mine! I will warn you now, this chapter is slightly intense. Also, I do not own Doctor Robert Chase. He belongs to Fox, David Shore, the television show, **_**House M.D.**_**, and Jesse Spencer who plays him. I promise I'm just borrowing him, and I will return unharmed…mostly. Thanks yet again to Jaime (ShesGotHighHopes) for being the best editor ever and putting up with me. Thanks also to my reviewers. I love all of you.**

**Enjoy!!**

**Chapter Five- Fighting at Shorty's**

Stephanie Plum slowly felt her mind start to awaken. She had been asleep for about eight hours, and her body had decided it was definitely time to wake up. She popped open her big, blue eyes and found herself looking into a pair of very familiar dark, chocolate eyes. She smiled a bit sleepily, and said, "Good morning."

"Afternoon, Babe."

She looked confused for a second before she said, "What time is it?"

"It's a little after four."

"Why did you let us sleep so long?"

Ranger gave her the wolf grin and said, "Well a certain someone kept me awake until eight this morning so I thought we both deserved some sleep."

Stephanie shot him a mock glare, "That was just as much your fault as it was mine. I'm not the only one with uncontrollable hormones."

"Babe, you're pregnant. You will always have more hormones than me. Therefore, the marathon sex session is technically your fault."

"Ass. Besides if I remember correctly, you started round two so at least one round is your fault. I may concede that the rest is my fault."

Ranger gave her a 200-watt smile, "Are we really fighting about our sex life? What the hell is wrong with this picture?"

Steph grinned, "How about instead of fighting about our sex life, we add to it…in the shower. I REALLY need a shower."

This statement got her another wolf grin, "You don't have to twist my arm, Babe."

An hour and a half later, they emerged from the shower to the ringing sound of Stephanie's cell phone. She ran to grab it before it stopped ringing, "Hello?"

"Steph?"

"Yes, who am I speaking to?"

"It's Jaime."

"Jaime, hey! What's up?"

"Well, Chloe called me last night and gave me the dirt on what's been going on the past twenty-four hours."

"I take it that means you know of Lester's return to her life?"

"Yep, and I also know that the asshole ex-husband of hers is stalking her."

"WHAT?"

"You didn't know?"

"No, my boyfriend and I have been kind of holed up for a bit."

Jaime laughed, "I so do not want the details. Anyway, Rob left a threatening note on her car last night, so instead of going to stay at your apartment she ended up crashing at Lester's townhouse."

"WHAT?"

"That was kind of the reaction I had which resulted in me flying to New Jersey."

"You're here?"

"Yep. I am at Shorty's with Bobby, Lester, Chloe, and Carl Constanza. Carl met us here to take Chloe's statement, and then Chloe invited him to join us for dinner. Steph, did Chloe and Carl date in high school?"

"No, they both just liked to flirt with each other. You know how Chloe is, she loves to flirt. I swear, I really think it's a Southern thing."

"Okay. Well, they started flirting during dinner, and Lester kept getting more and more pissed watching them flirt, and now Lester and Chloe are in the parking lot fighting."

"Shit."

"That about sums it up. You need to get here. Maybe you can talk some sense into her. Lord knows, she isn't listening to me."

"Have they killed each other yet?"

"No, but from the look on her face, I'm pretty sure she'll be pulling her gun on him very soon."

"Fuck. I'll be there ASAP. Bye."

Stephanie hung up the phone and threw it on the bed before running into the closet to get dressed. Ranger looked confused as he watched her run around like a chicken with her head cut off. His curiosity finally got the best of him as he said, "Babe, what's going on?"

Steph turned to look at him saying, "Why are you still standing there naked? Get dressed now. We need to get to Shorty's ASAP."

Ranger saw how freaked out she was and decided disobeying her at this point would have very negative results so he proceeded to get dressed asking as he did so, "Why do we need to go to Shorty's?"

"Well, apparently Chloe's ex-husband somehow found out that she is in New Jersey, and he has decided that stalking her will win her back. So Constanza met everyone at Shorty's to get Chloe's statement, and apparently, Chloe decided that flirting with him was fun which pissed Lester off so now Chloe and Lester are in the parking lot of Shorty's having the mother of all fights. We need to go and see if we can diffuse it."

"Then let's go, Babe."

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Fifteen minutes later, Ranger and Stephanie pulled into the parking lot of Shorty's. Stephanie didn't even wait for the Turbo to stop before she hopped out of the car. She looked around the parking lot searching for Lester and Chloe. She spotted them, and it looked like things were just as heated as Jaime had said on the phone. Lester and Chloe were nose to nose and anger was flashing in both of their eyes. Stephanie was just about to approach them in hopes of stopping the fight when a hand grabbed her arm. She whirled around to see who had grabbed her, and she found herself looking at Jaime. Stephanie looked confused as to why Jaime had stopped her. Jaime grimaced as she said, "Better approach with caution, Steph. Bobby tried to step in not two minutes before you got here, and Lester took a swing at him. He told him to mind his own fucking business."

"Are you serious? Christ, I've never even heard Bobby and Lester raise their voices at each other."

"I know, and when I tried to approach Chloe, she pulled her gun and told me to back the fuck off."

"Damn."

"Couldn't have said it better myself. They are both extremely volatile right now. This has the potential to be really bad."

As if she were trying to prove Jaime's point, Chloe had swung her hand back and managed to backhand Lester across the face screaming 'ASSHOLE' as she did so. This managed to knock Lester back away from Chloe so they were no longer right next to each other. Lester had just recovered, and he looked like he was about to retaliate when the shots rang out. The second the first shot was fired, everyone ducked with Ranger throwing himself on top of Stephanie to shield her while Bobby did the same for Jaime; both of the guys had their guns drawn ready for the showdown if necessary. Once they realized the shots were not aimed at them, Ranger and Bobby told the girls to stay down as they slowly got up keeping their guns out in order to protect the girls. They both started to look for the source of the shots, but unfortunately the shooter seemed to have vanished into thin air. The parking lot went completely silent as they witnessed the horror of the scene before them, and the only sound anyone heard were Chloe's screams as Lester went down from the impact of the bullets. She continued to scream as she ran to kneel at Lester's unconscious body. Jaime and Stephanie both came out of their stupor at the same time as they said, "Fuck," before getting up and running to Chloe's side. Neither noticing that Bobby and Ranger had finally holstered their guns and both had their phones out calling for help for their fallen brother.

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_**Chloe's P.O.V.**_

As I knelt next to his limp and lifeless form, I slowly felt my screams give way to quiet sobs. I was unaware of everything else around me as I grabbed his hand and began to speak to him softly even though I knew he couldn't hear me. "Lester, please wake-up. You have to wake-up, please. You're not supposed to leave me yet. Please, baby, wake-up. I just found you again…I can't lose you already. Just please wake-up and look at me with those beautiful eyes. Please, baby."

The tears fell harder as he continued to not respond to my quiet pleas. I was dimly aware of sirens screaming in the background when I suddenly felt arms around me pulling away from Lester. I struggled against them not wanting to be separated from Lester. As I fought with the arms pulling me away, I heard the soft voice of Jaime saying, "Chloe, sweetie, stop fighting us. You have to back up so the paramedics can do their work. Please, honey."

I stopped fighting the arms, and as I watched the paramedics work on Lester, I felt two people embrace me in a big hug. I tensed slightly until I realized that the people hugging me were Stephanie and Jaime. They were whispering soothing words in my ear, but I could not honestly tell you what they were saying. All I could see and hear was the paramedics tending to the one person who mattered to me more than anything else in the world. They had started to load him into the ambulance, and I started to walk towards them so I could go with him. Before I made it one step, I was pulled back into the cocoon of Jaime and Stephanie. I started to fight them again because I wanted to go with Lester. I wasn't ready to leave his side, and they were holding me back. Stephanie said as I struggled, "Chloe, honey, you can't go with him. His condition is too unstable. Come on, sweetie, they're taking him to St, Francis. We'll drive you."

I turned and blindly followed them to the Explorer that Lester and I had been using all day. As we climbed into the back of it, I vaguely registered the presence of Ranger in the driver's seat, and Bobby in the passenger's seat. Bobby looked as pale as I probably was, a daunting challenge for an African-American, but he was. It distantly occurred to me that Lester and Bobby had been best friends, and that it couldn't have been easy for him to watch his best friend get shot. Are best friends was my next thought. Are best friends I told myself firmly. It was way too premature to be thinking about Lester in the past tense. He was going to survive this, I told myself, and when he does, you and he are having a talk about his reasons for leaving. Time to be mature and face your insecurities over him head on. This is the man you love, and you are not letting him go again. I promised myself that for the first time in my life, I was truly going to fight for what I wanted. I was pulled out of my thoughts as we pulled up to the hospital entrance. Before Ranger could stop all the way, I hopped out and ran into the hospital. I vaguely registered the rest of them following me. I ran to up to the closest nurse's station saying, "Lester Santos, where is he?"

The nurse regarded me calmly as she said, "He was just brought in, and he is still in surgery. He will probably be in surgery for at least a couple of hours. When he is brought out of surgery, he'll be in the Intensive Care Unit. The waiting area for that part of the hospital is one floor up. You can wait for him there. The surgeon will come there when he's finished, and he will update you on Mr. Santos condition."

I said a quick thank you before running for the elevators to get to the ICU waiting area. We were all sitting in the waiting room two hours later when a nervous looking orderly came up saying, "I'm looking for a Chloe McDuffie."

I looked at him slightly confused, "I'm Chloe. What can I do for you?"

"Well, um, this note was just dropped off for you."

I looked at him shocked for a second before I said, "Do you know who dropped it off?"

He looked even more nervous as he said, "I'm not really sure. It was dropped off at the downstairs nurses' station, and then they paged me to bring it to you. When I came to get the note, the nurses there were giggling about some cute guy that had just been there."

"Fucker!" I turned to my friends saying, "I'll willingly bet all the money in my bank account that it was Rob who dropped it off. He always had a way with the ladies. I was also really hoping the shooting was random, but I bet he was responsible for that too."

Stephanie and Jaime looked shocked at my revelation, but Ranger and Bobby immediately got up with Ranger saying as they did so, "We'll go question the nurses."

I just nodded at them as they left before I turned to the orderly saying, "Let me see the note."

He handed it to me, and I looked at it for a second. It was just a plain white envelope that was unremarkable in every way. Only it was remarkable because it was from Rob, and he was threatening my future happiness, and for that reason, I wanted to kill him. I stared at the note for a few more moments before I decided I could no longer ignore it. I ripped it open and stared at the typed words on the paper before they finally flew into focus.

Hello again, my darling Chloe.

I truly hope my replacement is not dead.

I was not aiming to kill…this time.

I plan on torturing the two of you just a little longer.

Then, mark my words, I will kill him.

He took you from me and for that he must pay.

Once he is gone, we will be free to be together again.

As I said before, once I have you back, we will go to the angels.

Until then, my darling.

Love from your adoring husband.

Before I could stop myself, the sobs started again. Lester being shot was all my fault. If I hadn't come back to New Jersey, he would not be in surgery right now fighting for his life. This was all caused by me, and if he died, I would never forgive myself. Before my thoughts could become too morbid, I felt Stephanie and Jaime smother me in a group hug again. Again, they were whispering words of comfort, but this time I was able to hear what it was they were saying. They were telling me what it wasn't my fault, but I knew they were lying. It was all my fault.

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_**Jaime's P.O.V.**_

Stephanie and I were hugging Chloe telling her that this wasn't her fault, but I could tell by how tense she was that she didn't believe us. I fought my growing frustration that she didn't believe us because getting angry at her was not going to make her believe us. If anything, it would make her believe in the notion even more. Chloe was amazingly stubborn especially when she was convinced she was right. I found myself sending up a silent prayer to God to not take Lester yet especially this way. If God took Lester away from Chloe now, I knew in my heart that she'd never recover. Stephanie and I wouldn't be able to save her, and that thought scared me more than anything. Lester, whether or not Chloe was ready to admit especially with how things had ended between them all those years ago, was the love of Chloe's life. Losing him now would have major negative repercussions for Chloe, and I could quite easily lose my best friend if the worse-case scenario played itself out. I jerked out of my thoughts as I felt Chloe leave my arms. I turned slightly to see why she had moved and saw her talking to Ranger and Bobby who had returned from interrogating the nurses.

"Anything useful?" I heard her say in a voice completely devoid of emotion which I knew was deceiving. She was feeling too many emotions so she was shutting them out in order to cope with all of them.

They shook their heads indicating that the nurses had nothing useful to offer. What a shocker. As this registered with Chloe, she sat down on one of the many uncomfortable plastic chairs that were in the waiting room. She sat there staring at the blank wall for the next three hours as we waited for the surgeon to come with news on Lester.

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_**Chloe's P.O.V.**_

I sat there in that horribly uncomfortable chair staring at a wall for the next three hours. I was only dimly aware of the other people in the room. Ranger and Bobby were talking with Tank who had arrived about an hour ago. I could vaguely hear their conversation, and from what I could hear it sounded like Tank had been at the crime scene and was updating them on what the cops knew. Stephanie was talking to Lula who had arrived with Tank, and it looked like Stephanie was filling her in on the last couple of hours. Jaime was watching me as if she was afraid I would do something rash if she didn't watch me constantly. She was just about to open her mouth to say something when a man in scrubs and a lab coat entered. It was obviously the surgeon as he said, "I'm looking for the family of Lester Santos."

Before anyone else could say anything, I was up and saying to the doctor, "I'm Chloe, Lester's wife. How is he?"

He smiled slightly at me saying, "He's going to be fine. The first bullet went though his shoulder cleanly, and it managed not hit any major organs. The second one got him in the knee, but also went through cleanly so there should be no major damage from either one. However, we are going to keep him a day or two just in case. They are just putting him in a private room now, and he will probably wake up momentarily."

I felt all the tension I had been feeling in my body leave as the doctor said this, "Oh, thank God. When can I see him?"

"I'll take you to see him now. Unfortunately, only two of you can see him at a time."

"Thank you, Dr.?"

"Dr. Chase, Dr. Robert Chase. Now if you will follow me, I'll show you to his room."

I turned to look at everybody to ask something when Stephanie said, "Chloe, you can see him first. We'll wait, you need to see him more than anybody."

I smiled at her. It was as if she read my mind because that was actually what I was going to ask. I whispered a small thanks as I followed Dr. Chase. We entered Lester's room where two nurses were getting his IVs ready and making sure he was comfortable. They were just finishing as we entered, and Dr. Chase gestured for them to leave with him. Once they were all gone, I walked to Lester's side grabbing his hand in mine. I smiled a real smile for the first time since we started our fight as I watched him breathe. He was going to be all right. I was just about sit down when I felt his grip tighten on my hand. He was waking up!! Before I knew it those bright, beautiful, green eyes were trained on me, and he was speaking, "Hey, pretty girl."

Once he said this, I promptly burst into tears saying as I sobbed, "Oh, Les, I'm so sorry! This is all my fault."

He smiled at me saying, "No, this is not your fault. You are not to blame yourself. I'm going to be fine, so no guilt, okay?"

I just nodded unable to speak at that moment. He smiled at me again, "Okay, now that that's settled, come climb in this bed with me."

I looked at him shocked, "What?"

"We both need the sleep, and we both sleep better when the other is with us. So come get in this bed, please, Mac."

I just nodded again as I climbed in the bed carefully being mindful not to jar him or any of his tubes. I laid down with him, and he wrapped his arms around me as we both promptly fell asleep.

TBC…

**That's the next chapter. More is coming soon. If you want me to update fast, then review. I have become a review slut so reviewing makes me happy and more willing to update.**


	6. Declarations of Love and Dirty Little Se

**Okay, guys here is the next chapter. I hope you like it. Once again, anything you recognize is not mine, anything you do not, is MINE, and you can't have it. Anyway, I am warning you now, my new job has been kicked off so my update will be become more sporadic, but I promise all of you, I will finish this story. Also, I am going to TRY to post one more chapter this weekend before the job starts to get really crazy on Monday. Again, thanks to Jaime for editing and making suggestions. You rock, Babe. Thanks also to my reviewers. I love you crazy nuts. Also there is really no Babe in this at all, but I promise to bring you some good Babe moments next chapter, and if I feel really brave maybe even some smut.**

**ENJOY!!**

_You're in my heart  
The only light that shines  
there in the dark  
'Cause I wanted to fly,  
so you gave me your wings_

_And time held its breath so I could see, yeah  
And you set me free_

_-'You Set Me Free' Michelle Branch_

**Chapter Six- Declarations of Love and Dirty Little Secrets…**

_Later that same night…Chloe's P.O.V._

Chloe awoke with a start in the middle of the night, and it took her a second to realize where she was and who was holding her. As she laid there, unable to go back to sleep, she remembered all those nights she had fallen asleep in his dorm room, in his bed despite there being an unspoken rule about overnight guests of the opposite sex. His arms always around her as they slept a most innocent sleep. Their sleep had always been innocent even though everyone who knew them and knew of their sleepovers thought differently. In fact, Lester had never even tried to get past second base with her in all the months they were together which incidentally made her fall even more in love with him. The only night in their college relationship that they had had sex was his last night at school though Chloe hadn't known it was his last night at the time. He was her first since she'd been a virgin when she came to school, not that she was innocent or naïve as people seem to think virgins are, but she just had not found the right guy to give her virginity to. She was raised Catholic, and even though she did not believe in the whole waiting for marriage thing, she did believe sex was about love as corny as that was, but it was how she felt. He had been the first guy she had truly loved so it was only fitting that he take her virginity even if he had left the very next day without even a good-bye. The night had been perfect, but the morning after had left much to be desired.

Chloe was broken out of her musings as she felt Lester shift and stir in his sleep. She turned to look at his face in case he awoke from his obviously troubled slumber, but he remained asleep. She was just returned to her musings on love and sex (how cheesy was she!) when she heard him murmuring in his sleep. She smiled to herself at his incoherent mumbling, but then she froze as she heard the last thing he said which was definitely NOT incoherent mumbling. "Chloe, I love you."

As those four words left his mouth, she turned sharply back towards his face to see if he had suddenly awakened, but he was, thankfully, still asleep. She was unsure how she felt about his unconscious confession. A part of her was thrilled that he still loved her, after all, why else would he say it in his sleep? However, another bigger part of her was saddened that the first time he said it to her since they were eighteen was in his sleep. Mostly because she knew he would never remember saying it in the morning. Despite all the hurt, he had caused twelve years ago and more recently, she still loved him, and if the past few hours had proven anything to her, it was that. Nonetheless, there was still a lot of damage and miscommunication that had to be fixed before she was even going to contemplate a second try at a relationship with him. She inwardly laughed at herself for musings, but as she continued to ponder the words Lester had just mumbled in sleep to her, she could not help, but remember the first time he had ever said those three little words to her.

_Flashback…_

_Jaime and Chloe were sitting in dining hall area of Russell House with some of their friends from the sorority Chi Omega. They had gone through the Fall Rush back in September and October and had become full fledged sisters at the end of the pledging process. They were all chatting casually catching up on the campus gossip that they hadn't gotten to discuss during the week of classes and other obligations. It was now a Friday afternoon in January, and they were just finishing the second week of Spring Semester. The conversation had just switched from campus gossip to everyone's weekend plans when the focus of some of the girls shifted towards something behind Jaime and Chloe. Jaime and her both turned to look because they were facing the wrong direction to initially see what was distracting the other girls. However, based on the tingles Chloe felt and the hairs rising on the back of her neck, she had a theory about what was going down. When she turned to look, her suspicions were confirmed. Lester and some of his frat buddies were approaching our table. He had pledged the Kappa Alpha Order at the same time Jaime and her pledged Chi Omega. Lester was one of the most popular freshmen on campus. With his good looks, his charming personality, and now his acceptance into the most respected fraternity on campus, he was the object of lust of many freshmen and upperclassmen girls alike. She still had a hard time believing that of all the girls on campus, he had picked her to be his girlfriend. He smiled at Chloe in that amazingly disarming way he had as he got next to her chair. She vaguely noticed that his friends were talking to her friends. Chloe wasn't surprised after all the KAs were the Chi Omega's brother frat on the University of Carolina campus. There was also an unspoken rule that KAs should only date girls from Chi Omega and vice versa, but it wasn't enforced in any real way just strongly implied. This was why the new KAs spent their free time flirting with the girls who had been in the new pledge class. Chloe was the only one who didn't receive their attention, and that was because in the eyes of everyone on campus, she was Lester Santos's girl, and that was well respected especially since everyone believed he'd eventually be the leader of not only KA, but the Fraternity Council as well. He continued to smile at her as he said, "Hey Mac."_

_Chloe couldn't contain her own smile as she said, "Santos."_

_He continued to smirk at her, "My, aren't we formal today."_

_She stuck her tongue out at him, "What'cha going to do about it, Santos?"_

_"Well, I was hoping you'd accompany me to dinner tonight."_

_"Hmm…," Chloe pretended to think on her answer, "Santos, what is the rule on dates with me?"_

_"Twenty-four hour advance notice at the least?"_

_"Yes it is, so what is with the short notice?"_

_"I'm sorry, I really am. I didn't think I was going to be free for dinner tonight, but now I am, and I would really like the company of the prettiest girl on campus."_

_Chloe couldn't help herself, she rolled her eyes at him, "I'm already your girlfriend. You can stop with the outrageous flattery. Yes, I will go to dinner with you."_

_He grinned widely at her, "It isn't outrageous flattery when it's true."_

_"Whatever, Santos. What time do I need to be ready?"_

_"Be ready for 7:00. We have reservations for 7:30."_

_"You going to tell me where you are taking me, Santos?"_

_"Nope, dress casual though. Tonight is going to be good," his salacious wink as he said this implied the obvious double meaning._

_Chloe rolled her eyes again, "Lester Santos, you are such a tease, but you are my tease so I will just have to live with it."_

_"That would be why I love you."_

_Chloe was just turning back to talk to Jaime when he said that. The second she heard those words leave his mouth she whirled back around shocked. This was the first time he had said it, and Chloe hadn't thought he ever actually would, but he had. She focused on his face and saw he had an I cannot believe I just said that look on his face mixed with would she say it back. As Chloe looked at him, she knew instinctively that she did love this man looking at her with nervous eyes. Chloe gave him her biggest smile as she said, "I know. I love you, too."_

_The look in his eyes made Chloe want to cry tears of joy as he pulled her from her chair, and he gave her the most wonderful kiss of her life. _

_---end flashback---_

Chloe was once again startled from her thoughts by Lester's restless movements. She turned to see if he was waking up, but thankfully, he still was asleep. He was, however, mumbling again. She couldn't make too much of it out again, but she distinctively did hear his mutter of "pretty girl." That was definitely a phrase that held _a lot _of memories. He had started it during their time at USC, but it had taken on a life of its own a few years post-college when she had been only been married for about two years. NO! Her mind screamed loudly at her, telling her not to go there. She was NOT ready to open that can of worms and think about her dirty little secret that had happened with Lester during her marriage. Best to just go back to sleep and not dwell on it. So that is exactly what she did.

_A week after Lester was shot…still Chloe's P.O.V._

It had been a week since Lester was shot by my asshole of an ex-husband. Surprisingly, it had been amazingly calm since the shooting at Shorty's. I knew, however, that this was the calm before the storm. If I knew my ex-husband the way I thought I did, I knew it was going to be a shit storm. I was actually enjoying being in the eye of the storm, but I was dreading and ready for the flood of rain that was coming. We all were really. There had been daily meetings at Rangeman to discuss my ex-husband and strategy to capture him. I also knew that the Trenton PD was working around the clock to find my ex-husband especially since he was now wanted for questioning in Lester's shooting. I was really hoping that the police found him before anyone at Rangeman did. I wanted my ex to rot in jail for the rest of his natural life, and I knew that if the guys found him, especially Bobby, they would systemically and efficiently take him out for shooting their unarmed brother. Bobby was the worst. He was working twice as hard as anyone to find Rob. I wasn't surprised, after all Lester and Bobby were best friends. It was almost scary the intensity he was showing for the case, and Stephanie had likened it to the way Ranger got when she had a psycho after her. The only thing, or rather only person keeping Bobby calm and not on a twenty-four hour manhunt for Rob, was Jaime. Yes, my best friend was still in New Jersey, and she and Bobby had become very attached to each other. At this stage, it was too early for anything too serious, but they were in that tenuous stage of dating where you feel the other person out to see how compatible you were with each other. So far it seemed like they were pretty compatible, but who knew what would happen. I also knew, though neither would confirm nor deny, that she was staying with Bobby at his apartment. I had my theory that Jaime's motivation for this was to make sure he didn't sneak out at night to hunt and kill Rob, and well, also just because she liked him. Bobby's motivation seemed to be because he liked having my best friend around and because she could keep him calm.

As for Lester and me, I was still staying with him, and yes I do sleep in his bed, but for now, it was completely innocent. Lester had been put on light work at Rangeman until he was cleared by his doctors, which wouldn't happen for at least five more weeks, and I had been appointed the job of making sure he kept to doctor's orders. Yep, I was now on the payroll at Rangeman since Lester was supposed to be my partner in bounty hunting, and I had refused another trainer. I didn't really need the money that working at Rangeman would provide (I did have a trust fund after all that had barely been touched since I got access at twenty-five), but I took the job in order to keep an eye on Lester and to assure myself that he would be okay. Our current relationship was, how to put this, _delicate_. I had told Lester point blank the day after he got shot that I wanted to give our relationship a second try, but before I did we had things that needed to be discussed about our past. He had been willing to have the talk right then and there , but I'd put my foot down. This talk was not going to happen until my ex was behind bars and out of our lives. Lester just had to deal.

"Mac?" Lester interrupted my internal monologue by calling my name.

"Yeah, Santos?" I had somehow reverted back to our college days of calling him by his last name.

"We need to head to Haywood. We said we'd be there by six, and its five-thirty now."

"Okay," I said.

We were heading back to Haywood because me, Lester, Jaime, Bobby, Tank, Lula, Ranger, and Stephanie all needed a break from the insanity that had been the past week. We were all going to hang out in Ranger and Steph's large apartment and try to decompress from the stress filled week. Us girls had wanted to go out, but the boys had nixed that idea. Too many possibilities for Rob to get to us and turn the night into a clusterfuck. We had then all agreed to meet in Ranger and Steph's apartment because it was the biggest and was also on top of the securest building in Trenton. Lester walked into the living room where I was from the bedroom. I smiled at him. He looked absolutely edible. He was wearing dark denim jeans that were not to baggy or too tight (in fact they accentuated his ass perfectly), and a green button down shirt that matched his eyes perfectly. The shirt was open all the way and under it was a white painted on T-shirt that showed off his rock hard abs. Lastly, he had steel toed boots on and his leather bomber jacket. The only thing marring his appearance was the sling his arm was in so that he did not jar his injured shoulder while it healed.

He smirked at me, "You're looking at me like I'm lunch."

"I can't help it. You look sexy."

"You don't look too bad yourself, pretty girl," he said with a wolf grin as he took in my almost knee length denim skirt, my red tank top, my leather jacket, and my knee-high black boots.

I blushed, "Thanks, now's let blow this joint before we're late."

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_Jaime's P.OV._

Lester and Chloe were the last to arrive at Ranger's apartment. They entered holding hands, and I had to fight the urge to smack Chloe upside the head. I knew they were not back together yet, but I knew it was only a matter of time. When I had come in to Lester's hospital room to take Chloe home, I had seen them both sleeping in the bed, and I knew. I knew it was only a matter of time before they were back together and then only matter of time before he broke her heart again. I remembered what hell it had been last time, and I was not in the mood for a repeat performance. I was sitting next to Bobby on one of the couches in the living room, and he must have felt me tense because he said quietly in my ear, "What's wrong?"

"They are," I said silently nodding my head slightly at the entwined hands of our two best friends, "He broke her heart once, and he's going to do it again."

He looked me in the eye as he said, "He has matured a lot since you last saw him. I don't think he will, but if he does I promise to kill him."

I couldn't help it, I smiled at him, "You are such a sweetheart."

He winked at me, "Don't tell anyone, it's bad for my reputation. Besides, I'm only a sweetheart to you, and you know it."

"I do. I have to say I like the soft side of you."

"I promise I'm hard in all the right places," the wolf grin he shot me as he said this made me blush and also heated my body.

"Down boy. Plenty of time for that later…much later," I winked at him and gave him a peck on the lips.

Chloe broke into our flirting then saying, "Save it for later you two. This is relaxing time not sexy time."

Lester groaned at her, "You are never watching Borat again. You quote him too much."

She smiled at him, "You really going to stop me? _I dare you_."

Okay, this had to stop now, if they got started and no one stopped them, they could banter endlessly for hours. It was kind of annoying. "Guys shut up! I want to hear how Steph's doctor's appointment went."

This stopped them dead in their tracks. I guess they wanted to know too.

_Lula's P.OV…._

Now that Steph had the attention of the room she filled us in on the scoop. She was a month along and she was due next summer in June. Us girls then proceeded to discuss all the things that Steph would need to buy for the baby. We also discussed baby names and all the fun and not so fun things associated with a baby. The boys ignored us and were discussing the sorts of things guys talk about it when they are ignoring the females in their lives. We had just switched to the topic of Rob when I asked a question that had all eyes on me.

I looked directly at Chloe as I said, "Why is Rob so hell bent on killing Lester? I mean he's never even met Lester, has he? It seems odd that he is fixated on Lester when it seems more logical for him to be fixated on you."

Chloe took a deep breath as she thought of the best answer. I watched her lock eyes with Lester obviously hoping he'd know how to answer without revealing too much. After all, he seemed to know exactly why Rob was obsessed with him over Chloe. She did too, but none of us did. I had a gut feeling revealing this secret was going to hurt Jaime, her best friend, who thought she knew everything about Chloe, but she didn't. She knew everything apparently, but Chloe's dirty little secret. Chloe looked like she had hoped she'd never have to tell her, but it seemed inevitable at this point. She'd obviously never told her because she thought Jaime would be disappointed in her for succumbing to temptation, but she had done it, and it was time to bite the bullet and share her dirty little secret. I watched her take another deep breath as she said, "Lester and I both know why he has set his sights on killing Lester. This isn't easy for me because it means revealing my darkest secret, one that you don't even know, Jaime."

Jaime took a deep breath as she said, "Tell us. I promise not to be mad."

Chloe sighed, "You might take that back when you hear it. Okay, I can't stall anymore so I am going to just say it. Three years into my marriage with Rob, Lester and I had an affair."

"WHAT!"

Oh shit. This was going to be fucking bad.

TBC…

A cliffhanger again cause I'm evil. LOL. Now go review so I'm motivated to write more.


	7. Pretty Girl is Happy Or Is She?

**I know I promised you guys some Babe moments, but I wasn't feeling inspired for that right now. However, I did feel inspired to write this. It is a flashback to how the affair between Lester and Chloe started. I hope you guys like it. Okay, so once again, anything you recognize is not mine. Lester belongs to Janet and Chloe, Jaime, and Chloe's parents belong to me. I do not own the Sugarcult song, "Pretty Girl (The Way)" or Hilary Duff's song "Happy." Thanks again to Jaime who edited this and those who reviewed. You are loved.**

**Enjoy!!!**

_Pretty girl is suffering, while he confesses everything  
Pretty soon she'll figure out what his intentions were about  
That's what you get for falling again  
You can never get 'em out of your head  
It's the way  
That he makes you feel  
It's the way  
That he kisses you  
It's the way  
That he makes you fall in love  
She's beautiful as usual with bruises on her ego and  
Her killer instinct tells her to beware of evil men  
And that's what you get for falling again  
You can never get 'em out of your head_

_Pretty girl, pretty girl_

_It's the way  
That he makes you cry  
It's the way  
That he's in your mind  
It's the way  
That he makes you fall in love_

_-Pretty Girl (The Way), Sugarcult_

**Chapter Seven- Pretty Girl is Happy…Or Is She?**

_Flashback…_

_Chloe smiled to herself as she swept her eyes around the banquet room taking in the many people present at the gala. It was one of her father's many parties honoring those in the military. As a politician, her father felt it was of the utmost importance that he supports the troops. He didn't always support the military actions being taken, but he was always one hundred percent behind the troops and doing the necessary work to bring them home safely. She had the same mindset as her father so she always helped him organize these parties. At every party, they recognized a particular platoon that had made a difference recently somewhere in the world. Tonight was no exception; tonight, they were honoring a platoon of Army Rangers that had just returned from a peace keeping mission in the Congo where there were several militant groups fighting for control while terrorizing the civilians in the process. The platoon had only returned to Fort Jackson a few weeks ago so she knew they must be feeling weary, but they had shown up at the gala in their dress uniforms looking happy, but tired. After all, no one turned down being honored by South Carolina Senator Lawrence McDuffie when he had his mind made up. She knew a lot of them were also intrigued by the old Senator's beautiful daughter, but she never paid them too much attention. After all, she was a happily married woman who was married to an up and coming lawyer, Rob Michaels. They had been married for three years, and she could not have been happier. Little did she know that this night was going to test that happiness._

_Rob had just returned to her side and was asking her to join him on the dance floor when she saw a person she had willed herself to forget. Lester was directly across the room from her looking perfect in his dress uniform. Lester and Chloe locked eyes across the crowded room, and Chloe watched as his eyes narrowed in distaste at the man who was holding her hand. He continued to glare at her as Rob led her on the dace floor. His glare got even more intense as he realized what song was playing. It was Sugarcult's "Pretty Girl (The Way)" that was playing. At USC, that had always been their song mostly because it had his nickname for her in it, but the song would take on a whole new meaning during the next few years for them. A meaning that was a lot deeper and truer to the lyrics of the song and what their relationship would become. Lester and Chloe's staring contest became more intense as the song played on, and Chloe danced with her husband. Thankfully, the song came to an end, and before Chloe could walk over to Lester and rip him a new one her mother approached her and told her it was time for her to grace the party with a song. It had become a tradition at these parties for Chloe to sing a song as a thank you to the platoon being honored. Tonight, however, she had been inspired by seeing Lester. She decided to use this chance meeting with Lester to her advantage. After all, no one here, but her would recognize him. Jaime was missing the gala because of a business trip to Los Angeles. Chloe's parents, the only other people present who had met Lester previously, would not recognize him because he had changed too much to be noticed by two people who had only really seen him once. Gone was the tall, slightly awkward and thin boy Lester had been at eighteen, and instead the awkward boy had been replaced by a tall, muscular, confident man. Chloe thought that, perhaps, even his closest college friends would not know that it was him. Chloe, however, had spent many days and nights as a college freshman studying and learning every inch of this man. There was no way she could not distinguish who this man was even all these years later._

_She watched her mother approach the stage at the front of the room and climb up the stairs on the side. Her mother, Adrianna, took the microphone from the band leader as she turned and faced the partygoers. She smiled at them as she said, "I hope that everyone is enjoying our little party. Now, as a nice change of pace, my beautiful daughter, Chloe, will grace us with a song."_

_Chloe walked up the stairs to the stage. She reached her mother and took the microphone from her. Chloe turned towards the guests and lifted the microphone to her lips saying, "Now, I usually sing a patriotic song at these events, but I have been inspired to sing an entirely different song, and I hope everyone enjoys it."_

_With that, Chloe opened her mouth and began to sing the song that had been inspired by Lester's reappearance in her life._

_**I understand why you're looking for tears in my eyes  
Trust me they were there but now the well has run dry  
I was in so deep but couldn't get out  
I sat on feelings I buried deep down  
I knew there'd come a day when our paths would cross  
And I'm glad its today cause now I am strong**_

_Chloe trained her eyes on Lester as she sang these words directly to him. Thankfully, no one else realized that she was singing to a particular person in the room. They were all to entranced by her voice._

_**I'm happy and I can thank myself  
If it were up to you I'd be in my bed crying  
But I'm happy and I know that makes you sad  
After all the things you put me through  
I'm finally getting over you **_

I'm happy, I'm happy

There is a reason why we met, I'm glad that we did  
But when we broke up, I got back a part of me I really missed  
Not saying that you brought me down all the time  
There were moments I lived without light on my side 

_There truly had been dark moments in their relationship mainly because he was simply so unhappy with being in college. Chloe poured all her anger, tears, and sadness into the song._

_**I'm happy and I can thank myself  
If it were up to you I'd be in my bed crying  
But I'm happy and I know that makes you mad  
After all the things you put me through  
I'm finally getting over you **_

All the bitterness has passed  
And I only wish you  
Someone who could do what I can't 

_**I'm happy and I can thank myself  
If it were up to you I'd be in my bed crying  
But I'm happy and I know that makes you sad  
After all the things you put me through  
I'm finally getting over you**_

_Chloe held the final note of the song until its natural conclusion. She held her eyes with Lester's until the very last moment before smiling at the crowd and bidding the guests adieu. She left the stage, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lester coming toward her, but he stopped when he saw Rob wrap his arms around her. She felt a small twinge of sadness that she wasn't going to get to talk to him. However, she repressed her feelings as Rob led her back to the dance floor._

_One hour later, Chloe excused herself from the company of her parents and Rob so that she could use the ladies' restroom. She was walking back down the hallway to reenter the banquet hall when an arm grabbed her and pulled her into a small alcove. She whirled around to face the person who grabbed her and found herself face to face with Lester. She swore softly to herself. She had really been hoping to avoid this confrontation, but apparently that was not in the cards. Chloe looked at him coldly as she said, "Santos."_

"_Chloe, we need to talk."_

"_No, we really do not. I need to get back to my __**husband**__," she said with an emphasis on husband._

"_Chloe, don't do this. Don't act like your happy with him. I know you aren't so quit lying to me."_

_Affecting her snootiest tone, she said, "Mr. Santos, I do not know what you are talking about. I __**love **__my husband."_

"_Ah, pretty girl, you are such a bad liar."_

_With those words, he pulled her to him in an amazing kiss that took her breath away. She meant to fight him, but as he put every effort into the kiss, she could not find the strength. So began the three year affair between Chloe and Lester._

_TBC…_

**So there is the new chapter. Please go review. I hope you like it, and I promise, promise, promise that the next chapter will have some Babe moments!**


	8. One Faultless Moment

**Okay, my crazy readers, here is the newest chapter…finally. Real life has been kicking my ass in the form of my new crazy ass job. I warn you that there is no Babe cause I'm still not feeling inspired to write it (damn my muse!!), but there is Lester and Chloe smut. I hope you guys like it because I have never written smut before, and I'm terrified I suck at it. Anyway, I will try not to go so long between updates, but I can't promise. I love all of you guys and hopefully you guys haven't given up on this story. No matter how long it takes, I will finish this story because I hate when people leave stories unfinished. Okay, I've rambled enough. Before I go, thanks to Jaime for editing and putting up with my sporadic tendencies, and thanks to all my reviewers. I love you crazy people. Finally, I don't own Janet's characters, I do own Chloe and Jaime, and I don't own Jordin Sparks or her song, 'Tattoo.'**

**ENJOY!!!!**

_If I live every moment  
Won't change any moment  
Still a part of me and you  
I will never regret you  
Still the memory of you  
Marks everything I do  
Just like a tattoo  
I'll always have you_

_-Jordin Sparks, 'Tattoo'_

**Chapter Eight- One Faultless Moment**

_Still that night at the seventh floor apartment…_

Chloe turned towards her best friend who had just expressed her shock at what Chloe had revealed. Jaime had a range of emotions on her face. The mixture seemed to be hurt, confusion, and anger. Chloe sighed to herself. How was she going to explain her actions to her best friend? This was going to be the hardest thing Chloe ever had to do in her life. Suddenly, Chloe realized she really did not want an audience for this. She looked directly at Jaime as she said, "Can we talk about this privately?"

Jaime just nodded mutely at her as Chloe dragged her into the hallway outside the seventh floor apartment. As they finally had some privacy, Jaime blurted out just one word, but it was an extremely important word, "Why?"

"In my defense, I had no intention of starting an affair when I saw him at that party."

"But you did, so again, I ask you why? Don't lie to me either! I am a lawyer, I can tell."

"Honestly, I don't know. Every time, he came back for more, I always intended to just end it with him, but then I'd see him, and I didn't have the strength to resist him. It's like he's my kryptonite."

"That's a crock of shit, and you know it, Chloe. If you'd really wanted it to stop, you would have ended things."

"I know, I know. Damn it, Jaime, he was always the one. No matter what I do, I can't get him out of my head. I want him back, and hell, I'm going to get him."

"I was afraid you'd say that. Chloe, I love you, and I don't want you hurt again. I mean, God, what if he walks out again? Are you prepared for that?"

"I am, but he's not going to, he promised he wouldn't again. Besides, after the shit with Rob is resolved, Lester and I are having a real heart to heart and getting everything out on the table. He is going to have to do major damage control to get his second chance."

"Okay, I trust you to make the right decision but I just want you to be prepared for the worst case scenario. He doesn't exactly have the best track record with you."

"I know, but I am a big girl, and I can handle myself. Trust me; he is not going to have it easy when he tries to get back with me. This is going to be the real thing, or it's going to be nothing. There is no longer any in-between with us. It's all or nothing."

"That's my girl," Jaime said hugging her before they walked back into the apartment to finish out their night with their friends.

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_Later that night…_

Chloe was lying in Lester's arms later that night contemplating everything that had been happening since she moved back to Jersey. How had her life gotten more complicated since she moved from South Carolina? Chloe had unwisely thought that once her divorce got finalized, her life would actually get simpler, but she had been wrong! How fucked up was that? It was like the second things started going good for her, fate decided to step in and put things all to hell again. She shifted in her sleep, and in doing so, she woke up her bedmate. Lester looked sleepily at her saying, "Chloe, what's wrong? Why aren't you asleep?"

"I have too many thoughts on my mind, Santos. I can't quiet them to save my life."

"I thought things with you and Jaime were settled?" Lester asked.

"They are in a way, but they also are not settled. They're settled in that she accepts that I had an affair with you, but they aren't settled in the sense that she still does not one hundred percent trust you."

"Why doesn't she trust me yet? I have yet to run away from you this time."

"That's the point right there. You haven't run…this time. However, you do not have the best track record with not running away, and you know it. She's still wary that when things get too tough, you will run from me again."

"I'm not going to run again. Running is not an option for me this time. I'm all in now, Chloe, and I'm never going anywhere again. Better get used to having me around, Mac."

Chloe found these words somehow comforting especially with the craziness of the last few days. Lester still had a long way to go in proving that he could be trusted, but these words at least helped solidify that she was making the right choice to give him her trust again. This was going to be a long, hard road for both of them, but she was prepared for it, and she just hoped to hell he was ready for it. If he wasn't, he needed to figure it out now before she invested more of her heart in this. Chloe was broken out of her thoughts when Lester gently cupped her face in his hands and looked directly in her hazel eyes in an attempt to show her the honesty and sincerity in his words. Looking at all the raw emotions in his eyes was a tad scary, but she had to be grateful that he was willingly showing her how he was feeling. Most guys became closed off when you started talking about feelings with them. Then without warning, Lester leaned in and gave her the most gentle and wonderful kiss she had ever received. She let him kiss her intending to pull away in a reasonable amount of time when she realized that she did not want to stop kissing him. In this time and place, even if in the end he left again, she needed one perfect memory of being with him. Whatever the final outcome of their relationship, she deserved one faultless night with him even if they did not end up together as she wanted. She began to deepen the kiss doing her best to convey what her intentions for this night were. The moment Lester realized where Chloe wanted things to go, he tensed up, and pulled back to look questioningly at her.

"Are you sure, Mac? I want you to be sure."

Chloe looked him dead in the eye, "I'm sure."

Lester nodded before leaning back in to kiss her again. Her lips opened allowing his tongue access to her mouth. Their tongues battled for dominance, and Chloe found herself moaning at the intensity of the kiss, and she smiled into the kiss as she felt the familiar heat pooling in her stomach in anticipation. As his mouth was busy dueling with hers, his hands slid down her upper body to the edge of her tank top she had worn to bed. His hands began to edge her shirt up, and unlike last time when she pulled away and stopped him, she shivered as his cold fingers grazed her overheated flesh. She pulled back from his kiss so that he could remove her tank top all the way. Once her tank top had been discarded, his lips immediately found her nipple that was already hard with arousal. She groaned her approval as he swirled his tongue around the nipple. He finally ended his sweet torture of her nipple, but before she could regain her equilibrium, he had already moved to the other one to give it the same treatment. When he pulled away, he moved into kiss her again, but she dodged away from him. He looked at her confused before she said, "Time to even the playing field."

With those words spoken, she began her own assault on his nipples. Chloe thanked her lucky stars that he slept in just his boxers. It made life so much easier. She drew back slightly to regain her breath from all the wonderful sensations that were coursing through her at being so close to him again. Lester took advantage of this, and he managed to pin her hands above her head as he assaulted her lips again. Before Chloe realized it, Lester's lips were gone from her mouth, and were moving down her body assaulting her with kisses. She groaned her appreciation at what his mouth was doing. She'd forgotten how much he loved revving her up with a lot of foreplay. Just before his mouth reached his final destination (somehow Lester had already made her sleep shorts disappear and she had not been wearing underwear), Chloe managed to free her hands and use what body strength she had to flip him over. As much as she liked what he had been about to do, it turned her into putty in his hands and allowed him to run the show. As much as she did enjoy letting him run things, she had other plans before that happened.

Chloe took control of things as she pulled his boxers down his hips and legs. When she finally got them off of him, she flung them over to the other side of the bed and crawled back up to Lester. When she got there, she began giving him the same treatment he had just been giving her. She kissed every inch of his skin that she could get to reveling in the groans she was eliciting from him at her slightest touch of lips to skin. She continued to kiss lower and lower as she headed for her favorite part of Lester's anatomy. When she reached it, she took it gently in her hands as she moved her hands slowly up and down the shaft. She lowered her head and with the tip of her tongue, she licked the little bit of precum that was there. She smiled in satisfaction at Lester's hiss of arousal. Before he could recover, she took him as far in her mouth as she could. She alternated sucking and licking in order to prolong his pleasure. After a few minutes, she felt him getting close to the edge, but before he came, he tugged gently on her hair to signal her to stop. She pulled him from her mouth, and then Chloe crawled back up Lester's body to kiss him again.

They continued to kiss, and suddenly, Chloe felt Lester slip inside her aching body. He stilled for a moment letting her adjust to his size before beginning to move inside her. Chloe moaned with pleasure at how Lester was making her feel. He knew exactly what to do to get her all hot and bothered. In a bout of playfulness, Chloe managed to flip him over so that she could control things. She rotated her hips in small circles as Lester groaned and then reached up with his hands to knead her breasts causing her to cry out in pleasure. Finally, Chloe felt her orgasm start to build inside her, and with one final rotation of her hips, her orgasm rocked her body as she came undone. Lester came just as the final waves of hers started, and when they were both finally done, Chloe collapsed on top of Lester with him still inside of her. He wrapped his arms around tracing small circles on her lower back. He pressed a small kiss to her temple before whispering in her ear, "I love you, pretty girl."

She rolled off of him, and looked him directly in the eyes as she said quietly, "I know."

Finally, he pulled her close to him as they drifted off to sleep.

LCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLC

Chloe awoke the next morning feeling weird. She opened her eyes and as she did, the memories of the night before flooded back to her as she said, "Oh, shit."

TBC…

Hahahahahahahaha!!! Another cliffhanger cause I am the evil goddess. Anyway, go review to motivate my update. That rhymed!! Yeah. Later, Babes.


	9. What The Fuck Did I Just Do?

**Okay, here is the next chapter. Sorry for the delay. Real life has been kicking my ass. I promise the wait was worth it. There is some major Babe fluff including a very interesting twist concerning Steph's pregnancy. Also, there is good twit in the Lester/Chloe/Rob plot. Thanks to Jaime (ShesGotHighHopes) for editing this and thanks to my reviewers for putting up with me.**

**Enjoy!!**

Oh, you're such a dreamer

But I'm not a believer,

In all the things that you dream.

Stop watchin' me, stop watchin' me

Don't you have better things to do with your life,

Then hang around and stare at me and complicate mine?

-Hilary Duff, 'Dreamer'

**Chapter Nine- What the Fuck Did I Just Do?**

Stephanie Plum was pacing the corridor in front of the seventh floor apartment. This was not a normal activity for her, but she was nervous. Nervous because she had her first doctor's appointment today and she had no idea what to expect. She turned around as she heard the door open and came face to face with Ranger. He gave her his wolf grin as he said, "If you keep pacing the floor like that, you are going to wear a hole in the carpet."

Steph growled at him saying, "Watch it, Carlos, or you will be spending the majority of your life sleeping on the couch."

"Babe…"

"Don't 'Babe' me!! I am an extremely hormonal pregnant woman. What I say is what goes."

"Yes, Babe."

"Smartass."

"You love me, Babe."

"I still don't know why," Steph said with an eye roll.

With that, Ranger and Steph got into the elevator and headed to the parking garage so they could make it to her doctor's appointment. When they reached the garage, Ranger grinned at Steph saying, "Which car would you like to take?"

"The Turbo. In a few months, I won't be able to fit in it or get in and out of it. I need to enjoy it while I can."

"The Turbo it is."

Twenty-minutes later, they arrived at the Central Trenton OB/Gyn Medical Office. They walked in and headed straight for the receptionist's desk. The receptionist didn't look up as she said, "Name please."

"Stephanie Plum."

As Steph said this, the receptionist looked up as she heard the name. The receptionist was obviously a 'Burg girl as she got a hungry look in her eye at the thought of fresh dirt. Ranger put a restraining and comforting hand on Steph's shoulder as he can tell that she is becoming tense at the thought of yet again being fodder for the 'Burg gossip mongers. The receptionist opened her mouth intent on digging for the dirt, but she was rendered speechless at the sight of Ranger standing behind Steph. Ranger inwardly grinned at the receptionist's reaction to him, but said in a very businesslike manner, "We have an 11:00 A.M. appointment with Dr. Bell."

The receptionist just nodded, and then she handed Ranger a clipboard with forms for them to fill out concerning their medical history and all that fun information. They had been waiting for about fifteen minutes when they were called in for their appointment. They were brought into an exam where the nurse handed Steph a cup for a urine test to confirm her pregnancy. Steph stepped next door to the bathroom quickly getting the test out of the way. As she exited the bathroom, the nurse took the cup from her and hustled it off to the lab to be processed. Half an hour later, Dr. Bell came in with Stephanie's medical chart in hand a big grin fixed on her face. Without any preamble, she said, "You're pregnant."

Ranger and Steph could not fight the big grins that came on their faces at having this confirmed. Dr. Bell then continued saying, "First we are going to take some blood so we can run the standard tests. Then we will do an ultrasound."

Fifteen minutes later found Stephanie and Ranger in the ultrasound room. Stephanie felt cold as she lifted her shirt and the goopy jelly was spread on to it. Dr. Bell ran the wand over the belly and suddenly a booming sound filled the room. Actually four booms filled the room. Dr. Bell had a flabbergasted look on her face as she said, "That is your babies' heartbeat."

"Babies?" Ranger asked as Steph just looked confused.

"Yes, babies. Apparently, you are going to be having quadruplets."

Steph could not resist a sarcastic remark as she said, "Boy, Carlos when you do something, you do it full throttle."

Ranger didn't say anything as his eyes rolled in the back of his head, and he fainted. Stephanie looked shocked for a minute before she cracked up laughing at the fact that Ranger fainted. Dr. Bell looked completely nonchalant as she said, "This is a pretty standard reaction from a dad when they get this type of news."

Steph just nodded as she said, "Well, I would have fainted too, but it's kind of hard to from this position."

"We should probably wake him up."

"That might be a good idea."

"I'll go grab the smelling salts."

Dr. Bell exited the room and Steph just giggled as she looked at her boyfriend lying on the exam room floor. Three minutes later, Dr. Bell was back, and she crouched down in front of Ranger waving the smelling salts under his nose. Ranger's eyes fluttered as he began to awaken. When he was fully conscious, he began to sit up and said, "What the fuck did I just do?"

Steph laughed as she said, "You found we were having quadruplets, and then you fainted."

Ranger sighed, "We are never talking of my fainting again."

Dr. Bell and Stephanie just nodded, and Dr. Bell wrapped up the appointment. She gave them the prescription for pre-natal vitamins, and then gave them some books for first time parents. Ranger wasn't actually a first time parent, but he hadn't been very involved with Julie when she was a baby. Finally, they were on their way back to the Rangeman Trenton office. They had stopped on the fifth floor so Ranger could check in when they ran into Tank and Lula on their way to lunch. Lula grinned as she said, "Okay, what is the dirt? I know you had your first doctor's appointment today."

Stephanie smiled as she said, "Well, we got a really shocking surprise."

"Ooh, I bet this is good," squealed Lula.

"Apparently, we are having quadruplets," Ranger said calmly.

"Are you shitting me?" Tank asked, "Boy, you don't do anything small do you, Ranger?"

Before Ranger could reply to this, the elevator dinged, and Lester, Bobby, and Jaime came running out looking frantic. Actually just Bobby and Jaime looked frantic; Lester looked like the bottom had dropped out of his world. They ran over to the others, and Bobby blurted out, "Chloe's been kidnapped."

"Shit," Stephanie exclaimed.

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_Earlier that day…_

As Chloe lay in bed next to Lester trying to recover from the night before, she realized there was only one person she could talk to after doing this. As quietly as she could, she slipped out of bed, dressed in comfy sweats, and slipped out the front door. She hopped in her car and drove in the direction of Bobby's apartment because she knew that was exactly where Jaime would be. Ten minutes later, she pulled into Bobby's second parking spot, and walked up to the door ringing the doorbell as she did. One minute later, the door opened and a very sleepy Bobby blinked down at her. He looked confused as he said, "Chloe, what are you doing here? It's seven in the morning."

"I need to talk to Jaime right now. Go to Lester's apartment. I need girl talk, and I can't have it with you here."

Bobby just blinked at her before nodding and getting in his car and leaving. Chloe opened the door and headed inside where she found Jaime sitting on the couch. Jaime looked up at her and said, "Did you send Bobby away?"

"I sent him to Lester's apartment. I needed to talk to you, and I didn't want an audience while I did."

"Okay, spill it. What the fuck did you do?"

"What the fuck did I just do is right. I slept with Lester."

"Chloe Elizabeth McDuffie!!!"

"Jaime Gabrielle Reynolds!! Don't act like my mother."

"Why, Chloe, why?"

"I needed to."

"You needed to? You didn't need to do anything!"

"Yes I did, Jaime. If things with me and Lester don't work out, I deserve one perfect moment to look back on so that I don't completely hate him."

"Chloe, I love you, but sometimes you make me crazy with the things you do."

"I make myself crazy with the things I do, Jaime, it's not just you."

"What am I going to do with you?"

"I don't know, I really don't know. Okay, enough about me, what's going on with you and Bobby?"

"Nothing is going on with me and Bobby."

"Cut the bullshit. You are staying in his apartment; something is definitely up."

"Ugh, fine, so maybe there is something going on. However, I refuse to talk about it until things get more serious."

"Fine, I won't grill you."

"Thank you. I can't believe Rob is stalking you."

"I know. I just wish he'd make his big move already so we could just get this over with. I am sick of waiting for him to do something."

"Hey, you say that now, but you won't be saying it when it actually happens."

"I know, but I'm just so sick of having to be so cautious about things."

"I know, sweetie, but you are going to be fine. We are going to catch Rob, and this is all going to be resolved."

"I just want things to be over with, and I just want to have a happily ever after with Lester."

"Hey, sweetie, you will get your happily ever after with Lester. I know I haven't been acting like his biggest fan, but he really is the one for you. Maybe this time you guys will finally get it right."

"I hope so, Jaime, I really do."

"You will."

The girls then settled into the couch after Jaime grabbed some ice cream and watched '_Knocked Up'_. An hour and a half later, the movie was over. Chloe pulled herself up off the couch and said, "Well, I better get back to Lester before he throws a fit."

Jaime giggled as she said, "I'll walk you out so you can get back to Mr. Right."

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated."

The two girls laughed as they walked out of the apartment. They stood there talking for a few minutes when a man ran up behind Jaime and hit her with a stun gun leaving her unconscious. Chloe screamed as she realized the man who had stunned Jaime was Rob. He gave her a maniacal smile as he said, "Hello, Chloe."

"Rob," Chloe said trying to appear calm, but inside she was freaking out.

"You are coming with me."

"No, I'm not," she said as he grabbed her. She struggled against him trying to free herself from his grasp.

"Yes, you are," he said as he smacked Chloe across the face to stop her struggling. She gasped and in retaliation she bit his arm.

Before Chloe could react further, Rob had grabbed her and managed to put a cloth with chloroform on it to her mouth rendering her unconscious. Before he dragged Chloe off, he dropped a note on top of Jaime's still form.

Ten minutes later, Jaime awoke feeling groggy and disorientated. Finally, the fog began to clear and she noticed the note that was lying next to her. She opened the note and gasped at what it said.

Hello, Lester.

If you ever want to see your girl alive again,

Meet me at the Trenton Pier tonight at ten P.M.

No police or I will kill her.

That goes for your Rangeman cronies as well.

See you tonight.

I'll be waiting.

Jaime freaked out as she got up and ran inside the apartment grabbing the keys to her rental car. She flew out the door and into the car speeding towards Lester's apartment. She pulled in and parked before flying into the apartment. Lester and Bobby looked up at Jaime's whirlwind entrance as Bobby said, "Jaime, what's wrong? Where's Chloe?"

Jaime had tears streaming down her face as she said, "Rob kidnapped her. He took her! He took my best friend."

Bobby ran over to Jaime wrapping her in his strong embrace as Lester took the note from her and read it. When he was done he said, "We need to get to Rangeman so we can make a plan before tonight."

Jaime just nodded as she followed Lester and Bobby to Lester's truck. They arrived at Rangeman ten minutes later and piled onto the elevator. They got off on the fifth floor and ran straight into Ranger, Stephanie, Tank, and Lula. Bobby blurted out before anyone could say anything, "Chloe's been kidnapped."

"Shit," Stephanie exclaimed.

TBC…

**Yet another cliffhanger!! PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW. Thanks you wonderful people.**


	10. Dream A Little Dream

**Once again, thanks to Jaime (ShesGotHighHopes) for being so lovely and editing this for me. Also, thanks to my reviewers for putting up with my sporadic nature. I'm so sorry for the delay. I work six days a week, and work has just been kicking in my ass. Case in point: Today (MY DAY OFF, NO LESS) I woke-up to go to a nine A.M. meeting. So, yeah. Anyway, I love and appreciate the reviews and the patience.**

**ENJOY!!**

**Chapter Ten- Dream A Little Dream**

Chloe lay unconscious on the old and stiff mattress as Rob watched her. He smiled because he had the love of his life back, but little did he know that she was dreaming of her future with another man.

_Chloe's dream…_

_Chloe was awakened, but the bed she was in was not her own nor was it Lester's bed that she had been sleeping in lately. However, it was a very nice bed with what felt like one thousand thread count sheets. Chloe stretched and was settling back down to go back to sleep in the wonderful bed when she heard a cry of "Mama!"_

_Instinctively, Chloe flew out of the luxurious bed and into her two-year-old daughter's bedroom. She leaned over the edge of her daughter's crib and cooed at her, "Magda May, what's wrong my love?"_

"_Mama, me hungry."_

"_Okay, angel. Let's go find Daddy then we will get you some food."_

"_Da-Da!!"_

_Chloe picked Magdalena up out of her crib and she carried her into the kitchen where Lester was standing drinking milk straight out of the carton. Lester heard them coming and looked up guiltily at his wife and young daughter. Chloe gave him a mock angry glare as he smiled sheepishly at her. She just smirked as she said, "Lester Michael Santos, what did I tell you about drinking straight from the carton?"_

"_That if you caught me again, I'd be sleeping on the couch for a week and be taking over three A.M. diaper duty?"_

"_Got it in one. Be prepared for it too because you have just earned your punishment."_

"_I can think of a much better punishment, pretty girl," Lester said with a salacious wink._

_Chloe playfully smacked his arm, "Not in front of your daughter. Now please feed her so I can go get ready. We are due at Jaime and Bobby's engagement party in two hours."_

_Two hours later…_

_Chloe, Lester, and Magda entered the banquet room at Rossini's where Jaime and Bobby's engagement party was being held. Chloe was wearing a simple black Chanel shift with simple black heels while Lester was wearing a white button down shirt with black slacks and shoes. However, it was Magda who really stole the show in their little family. She was wearing a fuchsia princess style dress with black Mary Jane's and white ruffle socks. She had a pink headband on, and she looked absolutely adorable. Jaime had spotted them and she came rushing over with Bobby hot on her heels. Chloe grinned at her best friend and squealed, "Let me see the rock!"_

_Jaime giggled and held out her left hand for Chloe's inspection. Chloe smiled and said, "Now, that is a keeper. Thank God, you are marrying a man with taste!"_

_The two giggled harder at this as Lester and Bobby just looked on amused. After a few moments of giggling, Jaime turned serious and said, "Bobby and I had a few requests of you guys."_

"_Shoot," Chloe said._

"_First of all, we want Magda to be our flower girl," Jaime said._

"_Secondly, Chloe, I would really like it if you were my maid of honor."_

_Tears of happiness sprang to Chloe's eyes as she all but squealed, "Oh my gosh, of course I will."_

_The two girls hugged as Lester and Bobby smiled at how cute their girls were before Bobby turned to Lester and said, "Les, you going to be my best man?"_

"_Of course, dude. After all, you were my best man," with that, they shared a man hug and that was that._

_Chloe turned to Jaime and asked, "Why is it that men always seem to have the emotional complexity of rocks?"_

"_Because they do," Jaime replied with a giggle._

_Before the men could grumble at them, Magda came running over from where she had been playing with Steph and Ranger's quadruplets who were now five years old. Ranger and Stephanie were right behind the kids. Steph was waddling slightly as she was six months pregnant. The five kids were jumping around quite hyperactively. Two of the quads were jumping on Steph and while she was trying to be cheerful and sweet to them, the adults could tell she was feeling strained. Ranger said to his kids, "Adrianna, Dominic, stop climbing on your mother. Play with Magda, Dorian, and Adeline."_

_The kids immediately listened to their father and all five kids scampered back off to play. Steph smiled gratefully at her husband who just pulled her into his arms and kissed her head while rubbing her belly. "This is the last kid, Carlos. Five is MORE than enough."_

"_I guess I'm having a vasectomy then?"_

"_No, I'm going to have my tubes tied."_

"_Whatever you want to do, Babe."_

_Just then, the details around Chloe began to get fuzzy as she began to awaken from her dream._

Rob smiled smarmily as he realized that his beloved Chloe was awakening from her slumber. She stretched slowly, and then her hazel eyes popped open. She blinked blearily a few times obviously confused as to where she was and how she got there. However, her eyes began to focus, and she realized that she was looking at her ex-husband who was creeping her out with the look he was giving her. She gave him her best death glare, but he just smiled wider as he said, "Hello, my darling."

Chloe spat at him, "I am NOT your darling."

"Well, of course you are, my darling."

"If I am anything, I am Lester's 'pretty girl'," Chloe said insolently knowing that it would anger him.

Rob snarled at her as he smacked her across the face yelling as he did so, "You are MINE, not HIS."

"I am HIS, and I am not YOURS anymore, Christopher Robin Michaels!"

"Very well, my darling, you keep thinking that about him, but tonight he will be put to the test, and if he fails, you will know that he doesn't love you. Trust me, he will fail."

"If you really think he will fail, then you do not know the Lester that I know."

"Your faith in him is adorable. Now if you will excuse me, I need to prepare for tonight's fun little show," Rob said as he disappeared through the door leading out of the room.

Chloe would have tried to escape, but while they were talking she had noticed that her feet were cuffed to a large post that was drilled into the floor. The chain was long enough that she could walk to the toilet and sink that were in one corner of the room, but other than that she could not go anywhere. She decided to lie back down and try to recapture her dream. If only it could become reality and this nightmare was just that…a nightmare.

_Meanwhile back at Rangeman…_

Ranger, Lester, Bobby, Jaime, Tank, Lula, and Stephanie plus all of Ranger's most trusted men were in the conference room formulating a plan on how to get Chloe back. Well, they were trying to form a plan, but it was being hindered by something or rather by someone.

…Lester…

Every plan anyone came up with was immediately shot down by Lester. Of course the majority of the plans involved some variation on storming the place until Rob surrendered. Lester, however, was of the thought that this would provoke Rob into doing something drastic like kill Chloe. Ranger had finally had enough of Lester's shooting down everyone's ideas and said, "Well, then what do you propose we do Lester?"

"That I go in alone and get her out. After all, he told me to come alone. I will not do anything to fuck up her coming out of this alive."

"Lester, I can't let you go in there without backup. That would be irresponsible, and Rangeman is not an irresponsible company."

"Ranger, let me do this. You know that if this were Steph, you would be doing whatever it takes to get her home safely. I feel about Chloe the way you feel about Steph. I need to do this my way so she comes home safe to me."

"Fine, but you will be wired, and we will be down the street ready to come in if you need back-up. Agreed?"

"Agreed, but I am running this show, Ranger. This is my girl, and we are doing this my way."

"Agreed."

Jaime and Lula both looked at each other and then said in perfect unison, "We want in."

Bobby and Tank both did the silent communication thing that all the Rangeman possessed and then looked at the girls and said also in perfect unison, "No!"

Lula smiled and said, "Figured it was worth a shot."

Jaime turned to Bobby and said, "Are you really going to try and forbid me? This is my best friend we are talking about."

"I'm not forbidding you; I just want you to be safe."

"Well, aren't you just the sweetest?" Jaime said in an exaggerated Southern drawl.

Everyone laughed before Ranger turned to Steph, and said, "I'm surprised you didn't say you were going."

Steph smiled sweetly at him, "I'm pregnant with your babies. I'm not crazy enough to risk my kids just because I want to kill that psycho."

"Well, it's nice to know you are going to listen to me for once, Babe."

Jaime smiled at the cute interaction and said, "I'll stay and keep you and Lula company, Steph. Let the boys take care of the slime. I just have one request for you guys."

"What is that, beautiful?" Bobby asked.

"Bring him back alive so I can fry his ass in court! I deserve my own revenge for what he has put my best friend through."

Lester turned to look at Jaime and said, "I'll bring him back alive, I promise, Jaime."

Jaime smiled at him and said, "When this is all over, you better take good care of my girl. Give her the life she deserves."

Lester smiled, "Is this you giving me your seal of approval?"

"Yes, so don't fuck it up."

"I don't intend to. This is about the woman I want to marry."

Ranger cut in then and said, "Okay, everybody knows what they need to do in order to be prepared for this takedown. Get to it and meet back here at 2000 hour. Dismissed."

TBC…

**Until next time, please REVIEW!! Reviews make me smile. Y'all rock and I love you all!**


	11. In Self Defense

**Okay, so here is the next chapter finally. I'm SOOOOO sorry it took so long, but I'm down to five days a week at work so hopefully, my updating will get better. Either way, I will finish my stories, I promise. Once again, I do not own any of these characters except Jaime, Rob, and Chloe. Everyone else belongs to Janet's brilliant mind. Thanks again to Jaime (ShesGotHighHopes) for being so patient and editing this for me. She is the best. **

**Enjoy!!**

_In places no one would find  
All your feelings so deep inside (deep inside)  
It was then that I realized  
That forever was in your eyes  
The moment I saw you cry_

_The moment that I saw you cry_

_-"Cry", Mandy Moore_

**Chapter Eleven- In Self Defense**

It was now 2000 hour, and the Rangeman crew plus Steph, Jaime, and Lula were in the conference room. The guys were making last minute preparations, and the girls were there to see them off. All the guys seemed to be in takedown mode with the exception of Lester. He looked like he was a nervous wreck as he paced the conference room periodically checking his weapons and his flak vest which Ranger was making sure everyone was wearing especially Lester since he was Rob's main target. The guys were ignoring Lester, but watching him was disconcerting until Lula had had enough and walked up to Lester to calm him down. Lula pulled Lester into a comforting hug and whispered something in his ear which seemed to work in the calming process because he stopped pacing and sat down in a chair ready to leave.

Lula walked back over to the Jaime and Steph, who both looked flabbergasted. Finally, curiosity got the best of Steph as she blurted, "What did you say to him?"

Lula smiled and said, "I told him that everything was going to be fine. I said that if I could survive the beating Ramirez gave me, Chloe was going to come through this fine. She's a hell of a lot stronger than I was when Ramirez found me."

Stephanie smiled sadly at Lula as she said, "That was one of the worst days of my life mixed with one of the best if that makes sense. It was the worst because we almost lost you, and the best because it was what truly started our friendship."

"White girl, stop making me cry!! My mascara is running."

The two friends shared a hug as Tank, Ranger, and Bobby came over to say good-bye. Tank and Ranger looked concerned that Steph and Lula had tears in their eyes. Jaime picked up on this and said, "They're fine, guys. They just shared a little trip down memory lane. Nothing to stress over."

The guys nodded as Bobby said, "We're leaving in a minute or two. Come see us off in the garage."

They all headed down to the garage where Lester climbed in his Tundra, and with a nod at Jaime, left to bring his girl home. The plan was for Lester to get there first so that Rob would think Lester had followed his orders and actually come alone. Ranger and the guys would come along about ten minutes behind in order to lull Rob into a false sense of security. The guys were wired to be able to hear what would be going on between Lester and Rob and would come in when the time was right.

_Lester's truck…_

Lester drove towards the Trenton Pier nervously. His hands were gripping the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were white. He had never in his life been this nervous for a mission or takedown. Even his very first mission for the Rangers had not rendered him this frantic and that had been mission in the war torn region of Rwanda. Then he realized that the stakes were higher on this mission then they had ever been on any previous ones. This was about getting his woman back safely, and he was prepared to do anything to make that happen. Now he understood what Ranger felt like whenever Steph would get kidnapped by her various stalkers. Finally, Lester was broken out of his thoughts when he realized he had arrived at the pier. He pulled the truck to a stop and climbed out. He had not even taken three steps when he found himself face to face with Rob.

"Santos."

"Michaels."

"I see you have come to try to steal my girl again.

"Chloe is _**my **_woman, Rob, and nothing you do can change that."

"Your woman? Are you prepared to prove that, Santos?"

"Yes."

"Let's go inside then so you can prove just how true your loyalty is."

The men walked into the boathouse, and Lester was almost sick at the sight in front of him. Chloe was lying on a dirty old mattress wearing only a ratty white tank top and a pair of panties. She had various bruises on her arms and legs, and she looked as though she had been unconscious for at least some of her ordeal. She was definitely going to need medical attention if they made it out of this alive. No, he corrected himself, when they made it out of this alive. He looked back at Rob for a second and saw the coldness in his eyes and was terrified at the thought of what he might have done to her when he had her all to himself. Suddenly a strangled cry pierced the air and Lester whipped his head around to see Chloe was waking up. Chloe opened her eyes and slowly sat up. It took her a second to realize someone other than Rob was in the room with her, and when her eyes fell on Lester, they automatically lit up like a little kid at Christmas as she said, "Lester."

Rob fought the urge to scream as he watched Chloe's reaction to Lester. She was acting like he was her white knight, well black knight since he was dressed head to toe in the standard Rangeman black. Rob calmed himself though because it was almost time to eliminate the final threat to his and Chloe's future happiness.

Rob raised the gun he was holding as he said, "Are you ready to prove your loyalty to your woman, Santos?"

Lester did not hesitate as he said, "Yes."

"Good, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. Here is what is going to happen. I am going to shoot you without you trying to stop me, and then I am going to run out of here with Chloe. If you obey me, then I will never harm another hair on her head, and I will give her the life she deserves the way I should have the first time. However, choose to disobey me, and she will be swimming with the dolphins. "

Lester felt a tear roll down his eye, but as much as it pained him, he knew he would sacrifice everything to keep Chloe safe, and if that meant conceding to Rob's demands, he would even if he broke his own heart in the process. He nodded his assent to Rob who smirked evilly thinking he had won. However, both men had seemed to forget that there was a tiny, spitfire of a woman who was having absolutely none of this plan. The moment Chloe had seen the tears in Lester's eyes; she knew that her future was with him. She decided she was not about to let Rob fuck things up for her once again. He already messed it up once, she was not about to allow him to do it again. Sometime during all of this, Lester had sat down next to her on the dirty mattress while he and Rob had a stare down so as stealthily as she could, she slipped Lester's gun from his back where he always kept it. Lucky for her, neither Lester nor Rob noticed her actions. She pulled the gun up towards Rob just as he began to pull the trigger on Lester.

LCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCL

Ranger and the rest of the Rangeman arrived on the scene just as they heard two gunshots and a piercing scream. Ranger signaled to the guys to go ahead and storm the boathouse. They all ran in, and for a moment were shocked at the sight that befell them. Lester and Chloe were crouched on an old, dirty mattress, and Lester was trying to comfort her. She was clutching Lester's piece and was looking terrified as he held her. Rob was lying motionless on the ground in a pool of blood. Ranger quickly assessed the scene and immediately put together what happened. He pulled out his cell phone, and instantly put in a call to the Trenton P.D. and EMS. Two minutes later, the first couple of cop cars had arrived along with the ambulance. They rushed in, and Ranger quickly gave him assessment of what had happened. The paramedics walked over to Chloe and Lester and the female paramedic smiled gently at Chloe as she said, "Miss, we need to examine you, and then take you to the hospital for further observation."

"You'll have to perform a rape kit," Chloe cried as more sobs wracked her tiny body.

Lester pulled her tighter to him as he said to the paramedic, "May I ride with her?"

"Of course."

With that, Chloe allowed the paramedics to examine her before loading her on to the stretcher. Lester climbed into the ambulance besides her clutching her hand tightly in his. The ambulance took off for the hospital, and Ranger and the Rangeman stayed behind to help the police wrap up the scene.

_Later that night…_

Chloe lay asleep in her hospital bed, and Lester was at her side clutching her hand. The only time he wasn't holding her hand was during her MRI to check for internal damage. Lester smiled as he watched her sleep content that she was safe. Just as he was beginning to nod off, the door opened and in came Jaime, Bobby, Lula, Tank, Steph, and Ranger. Jaime walked immediately to the bed, and brushed a strand of hair from Chloe's eyes, "What's the prognosis?"

Lester sighed, "Physically, her wounds are superficial. According to her doctors, she will heal fine. They are more worried about her psychological wounds. Tonight, in self defense, she killed the man who raped her. It's going to take a lot to heal from that."

The girls all had tears in their eyes and the guys looked visibly upset as they finally managed to lose their habitual blank faces. Lester wiped at the tears in his eyes, and said, "I'm getting her the best therapist money can buy. She will pull through this, she will!"

Jaime smiled sadly, "I called her parents. They will be arriving tomorrow."

Just then, Chloe's private nurse bustled in, and said, "I'm afraid visiting hours are over. Everyone, but Mr. Santos must leave."

Everyone nodded before the girls hugged Lester in turn, and the guys all gave him a 'man' hug. They then all left the room as Lester settled into the bed to hold his girl through the night.

"I love you, Chloe," he whispered, "I'm never letting you go ever again, I promise."

TBC…


End file.
